Mesolithic to Early Neolithic features and flint assemblage at Nun's Walk, Great Yeldham (EHER 80225)

A buried soil filling a shallow, natural hollow, cut by three shallow pits, and three shallow pits found during evaluation. The buried soil and the pits contained flint-working waste and a number of flint tools, indicating an episode of in situ flint tool production during this period.

March 2021. Trial trenching. The earliest dated archaeological features encountered by the evaluation were a shallow pit in Trench 10, from which was recovered a flint bladelet core and flint working debitage that probably dates the Early Neolithic period, and two pits in Trench 19 that contained an Early Neolithic flint blade and a sherd of pottery of a broadly similar date. <1> July 2021. Archaeological excavation. Three areas (Areas 21-23) were excavated to further investigate archaeological remains that had been encountered during an evaluation of the site. Area 22 was targeted on a shallow prehistoric pit in Trench 10 where evidence for Early Neolithic in situ flint working had been identified. The earliest remains investigated by the excavation were located in Area 22 and dated to the Mesolithic/Early Neolithic period. They consisted of a buried soil filling a shallow, natural hollow, cut by three shallow pits. The buried soil and the pits contained flint-working waste and a number of flint tools, indicating an episode of in situ flint tool production during this period. <2>