Excavations on Redgate Hill, Hunstanton, Norfolk, and at Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire

Description

With contributions by David Gurney, Gillian G. Jones and Peter Murphy. Illustrations by Hoste Spalding, Mick Clark, David Taylor, David Gurney, Prances Healy, Margaret Mathews and Peter Murphy. Photographs by Rosemary Bradley, Nicholas Hawley, Fredric F. Petersen and David Wicks. Current research in the prehistory of the East Anglian Fens, centred on the Fenland Project, attaches new significance to complementary work on the upland surrounding the basin. This volume brings together the very different results of two area excavations, at Tattershall Thorpe in Lincolnshire on the north-western edge of the Fens, and at Hunstanton in Norfolk, on the north-eastern edge. Both sites are the cumulative result of intermittent activity spread over hundreds of years, and both provide examples of apparently structured Later Neolithic pit deposits. Hunstanton fills out an already extensive picture of clearance, enclosure and land division in prehistory; and the largest structure uncovered there, a so far unparalleled trapezoid enclosure, is a reminder that whole classes of monument may yet remain unrecognised, even in relatively well-explored regions such as East Anglia. List of Contents List of Plates List of Figures List of Tables Contents of Microfiche Contributors Acknowledgements Notes Preface Excavations on Redgate Hill, Hunstanton, 1970 and 1971 Chapter 1. Introduction, by Frances Healy I. History of discovery and investigation II. Location, geology, soils and archaeological context Chapter 2. The excavations, by Frances Healy and Ian Kinnes I. 1970 Pits 'Complex' Post-holes II. 1971 Pits Natural features Structures Chapter 3. Artefacts I. Lithic material, by Frances Healy Introduction Description Discussion Conclusions Catalogue of illustrated lithic material Appendix: terms used in describing lithic material 11. Pottery and fired clay, by Rosamund M. J. Cleal Introduction Method Grooved ware Peterborough Ware Beakers Collared Urns Indeterminate Bronze Age and later prehistoric pottery Unidentified object Post-prehistoric pottery Fired clay (summary) III. Worked bone and antler, by Frances Healy and Gillian G. Jones Description Discussion Chapter 4. Chemical, zoological and botanical evidence I. The British Museum phosphate survey, 1974, by David Gurney II. The animal bones, by Gillian G. Jones III. Mollusca and plant macrofossils, by Peter Murphy Marine invertebrates Land molluscs Carbonised plant remains Chapter 5. Synthesis and Discussion, by Prances Healy, Rosamund M. J. Cleal and Ian Kinnes I. The evidence from Redgate Hill Chronological overview Structures II. The wider context Later Neolithic pits Structures Appendix 1: Fired Clay (microfiche), by Rosamund M. J. Cleal The Excavation of a Neolithic Settlement at Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire Chapter 1. The Site, by Peter Chowne Chapter 2. Struck Flint, by Prances Healy Chapter 3. The Microwear Analysis, by Rosemary Bradley Chapter 4. The Prehistoric Pottery, by Prances Healy Chapter 5. Discussion, by Peter Chowne Bibliography Index Microfiche (123 pp.)