Neolithic occupation site, Hullbridge Survey Clacton Site 2, Walton-on-the-Naze (EHER 3503)

Occupation site, producing Beaker pottery and cooking-holes containing many flint implements.

Occupation site, producing Beaker pottery and cooking-holes containing many flint implements. <1> <2> Visited in 1984 as part of Hullbridge Survey Project by Wilkinson and Murphy. Exposures of old land surface containing occasional to common heat-shattered flints, rare to occasional struck flints and rare small body sherds of flint- gritted Neolithic pottery. In addition, three small, very shallow pits containing some charcoal were sampled. A thin layer of briquetage immediately overlay the buried land surface but it is not certain whether the briquetage was contemporary with or later than the occupation; it is presumably related to a later phase of salt working. The total length of intact occupation surface with heat shattered flint and artefacts was c.100m long by 5m wide. <3><4> The fieldwork in 1984 demonstrated that the extensive land surface and its archaeological sites of 50 years previously had been virtually destroyed by coastal development and erosion. < 4> Information from NRHE An occupation site with beaker ware was found at the same time as the one at Dovercourt (TM 22 NW 8). Finds included 'B' beaker and domestic ware, and flint waste from an industry. Nearby a crouched burial with one leg extended was found in a shallow grave with no associated objects. <2> <6> The site is listed in a gazetteer of Beaker sites, the pottery is described as being in the East Anglian tradition of ovoid form and with finger nail impressions. <7>