Monument record MDO136 - Mesolithic flint working site, Athelhampton

SY 7732 9402. A core, blades and a scraper were found on the top of upcast from an open trench 0.4 metres deep. Probably a Me. knapping site situated at the bottom of a northern slope with a stream nearby. <1>

In my opinion this material is Mesolithic. The core is quite typical and a number of the other flints practically so. There is one "Horsham Point". <2>

This material is 100% Mesolithic. "All the pieces except the end scraper which shows some lustre, are fresh and appear to have come from a sand deposit - a sandy subsoil perhaps. The end scraper may have been on the surface for some time. The micro-core is an ideal example of a 2-way - nice flint too. Of the fragments two are just chip debris and the others micro-blades. The narrow white fragmented blade-let appears to have been broken at a notch- I do not think it is a de-pointed microlith". <3>

SY 7732 9402. Mesolithic cores and blades from Athelhampton. <4-5>

<1> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 11-DEC-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<2> Fox, J, Letter from J Fox, 13 December 1954 (Verbal communication). SDO20170.

<3> Rankine, W F, Letter from W F Rankine, 14 December 1954 (Verbal communication). SDO20171.

<4> Rankine, W F, 1962, The Mesolithic Age in Dorset and adjacent areas, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 83, 91-99 (Article in serial). SWX7550.

<5> Wymer, J J, and Bonsall, C, 1977, Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales, with a gazetteer of Upper Palaeolithic sites in England and Wales (Monograph). SWX2026.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454837 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 26 2023 3:29PM