Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During an archaeological evaluation of land east of Springhead a spread of undiagnostic flint was found which may relate to a flint-knapping floor with a possible mesolithic date. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on available informaiton)

Monument Types

• FLINT SCATTER (Early Mesolithic to Late Iron Age - 10000 BC? to 42 AD?)

Associated Finds

• WORKED FLINT (Mesolithic - 10000 BC? to 4001 BC?)

Full description

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During Evaluation trenching undertaken prior to development at Springhead, a fair amount of struck flint - although mostly consisting of undiagnostic waste flakes - as well as burnt flint was recovered from across the Site, both from colluvial subsoils, feature fills. Due to the largely undiagnostic nature of the objects, however, the flintwork cannot be securely attributed to one period, and may represent knapping activities of several prehistoric periods. In one trench, flints from a possible in situ spread were identified, and although the total number of worked and burnt flint is comparatively small in this trench (4 and 2 pieces respectively), it potentially contains the most significant evidence for the survival of in situ early prehistoric archaeology. A bifacially struck nodule found in this small discrete ‘scatter’ is thought to represent an unfinished Mesolithic tranchet or Neolithic axe. The ‘scatter’ was contained within a thin matrix of greyish silt, also containing charcoal flecks. The ‘scatter’ appears to have continued into the south-western trench edge. Most notably, the finds array was capped by two colluvial deposits overlying a reddish ‘brickearth’ natural. It should be noted however that although interpreted as a ‘scatter’ the finds might also have originated from a disturbed discreet feature. They may have been re-deposited at some distance from their original place of deposition. A localised concentration of worked flint overlaps with the projected southeastern limit of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery. This may be of later prehistoric/Roman origin, but forms part of the observation of the colluvial displacement of lithic artefacts across the Site. (1)

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 2004, Springhead Quarter Ebbsfleet, Kent: Archaeological Evaluation Report (Unpublished document). SKE12271.

Sources and further reading