Find Spot record MDO1774 - Mesolithic flints from South Warren Hill, Netherbury

The published note describes this find as follows: 'Several worked pieces of flint and chert have been picked up from the surface at two sites in West Dorset. They have been examined by Susann Palmer, Curator of Bromley Museum, and identified as Mesolithic.

South Warren Hill. In the area around the gate where the public footpath leaves the A3066 and crosses the hills to Mapperton (SY 482989) I have found numerous Mesolithic artefacts. The soil is very sandy at this point and when it rains heavily the surface is washed away. It is also deeply rutted by tractor wheels. Flint does not occur naturally here and so when I noticed a piece on the track I examined it closely. The high number of surface finds in such a small area seems significant. I have found randomly distributed pieces of inferior quality by the side of the footpath a quarter of a mile to the east of Crab Coppice, but these finds seem less significant. The finds include:
1 small core, retouched as hammerstone, brown-grey flint
1 micro-core with some evidence of use as a scraper, chert (greensand)
1 steep scraper on primary corticated flake, chert
1 truncated blade, flint, probably for utilisation as a knife
1 retouched blade, flint
1 small bladelet, flint, used
1 end-and-side scraper, flint
1 primary waste flake, flint
1 convex scraper, dark grey flint, with very fine secondary retouch and one notched area
1 chert convex scraper'

… (1)

SY 482 989. Numerous Mesolithic artefacts have been found in the general area where the public footpath to Mapperton leaves the A3066. These include blades and scrapers. Additional Mesolithic flint ofinferior quality has been found near Crab Coppice (ca. SY 484 998). <2>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1983, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1983, 139 (Serial). SDO83.

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 864013 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 15 2022 4:49PM