Mesolithic to Neolithic worked flint, land West of Southminster Road (EHER 81308)

Trial trenching and excavation in 2017 recovered 42 pieces of struck flint and 7,431g of fire-cracked flint from across the site. The assemblage of struck flint largely comprised flakes, and the artefacts are products of a blade-orientated technology which provide limited evidence of a Mesolithic or Early Neolithic presence at the site. Fire-cracked flints are often considered prehistoric in date but are otherwise not closely datable.

June-July 2017. Trial trenching. A small assemblage of 21 pieces of struck flint and 83 pieces of fire-cracked flint was recovered during the evaluation phase, from six evaluation trenches (Trenches 4, 37, 39, 43, 47 and 51). The majority of these artefacts were residual within later features or found in undated features and a small number were unstratified. The assemblage of struck flint largely comprised flakes, with the addition of two bladelets, two flake cores and a piece of waste. They are products of a blade-orientated technology and provided limited evidence of a Mesolithic or Early Neolithic presence at the site. The presence of worked and burnt flint is suggestive of limited earlier prehistoric occupation activity at the site. This correlates with the low incidence of earlier prehistoric finds recorded in the wider vicinity of the site. <1> July-August 2017. Archaeological excavation. A further 20 pieces of struck flint were recovered from the excavation. Overall, an assemblage of 7,431g of fire-cracked flint was retrieved from 43 contexts. Fire-cracked flints are often considered prehistoric in date but are otherwise not closely datable. At least some of this is likely to be residual and to have derived from earlier prehistoric activity. <2>