Prehistoric pit and finds at land west of Thaxted Road, Saffron Walden (EHER 81146)

A large pit thought to be a possible prehistoric chalk quarry.

October to November 2023. Trial trenching. The single large pit in Trench 23 was cut into the natural chalk bedrock. This was commented on by Richard Havis, Essex County Council’s archaeological representative, as being visually similar to pits located to the north of Thaxted Road which were interpreted as Prehistoric borrow pits for the quarrying of chalk. A single piece of Bronze Age ceramic was recovered from the fill of pit. The worked flint assemblage exhibits properties typical of later Prehistoric flintworking: there was no evidence of systematic core preparation or careful curation of raw materials. The majority of artefacts were struck with a hard hammer. Modification of the resulting flakes (where present) was casual and opportunistic, giving the impression that tools were expediently created for specific tasks: the group of seven flakes from all appeared to have either small areas of retouch or edge-damage that is likely to indicate use. None are likely to pre-date the later Neolithic, and several are consistent with flintworking traditions of the middle Bronze Age onwards. <1>