Prehistoric features and finds at Water Lane, Steeple Bumpstead (EHER 80491)

The excavation uncovered a background scatter of Neolithic flints alongside burnt flint, two possible prehistoric pits and two sherds of Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age pottery which hint at the early use of this valley location.

2020. Excavation. Earlier land-use of this river valley and possible fording point is hinted at by the recovery of a small group of worked flints of probable Neolithic date in addition to two small sherds of Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age pottery. Two possible prehistoric pit features were identified in the south-west corner of the site and contains two flints of probable Neolithic date, 18 unworked burnt flints and a small amount of charcoal. The character and technological traits of the struck flint suggest that the material is broadly Neolithic in date, but most pieces are edge damaged and broken and some have no secure context. Therefore, all the struck material is likely to be residual, resulting from perhaps occasional losses, relating to activity, that took place in the valley of the small tributary (Bumpstead Brook) of the River Stour. The limited size and nature of the assemblage offers little to the overall interpretation of the site but does provide evidence of limited early prehistoric activity, most probably Neolithic, in an area of the valley that was previously undocumented. <1>