NHER 11482 (Find Spot record) - Palaeolithic handaxe from 'brickfield'

March 1903. Stray Find.
The British Museum holds a Palaeolithic handaxe recorded as being found in Ickburgh (1982,1004.9). Information from (S1).
Described on (S2) and in (S3) as sharp and pointed handaxe. Also noted in (S4) and (S5).

The precise location of this find is not entirely clear, although it is recorded by Wymer as being marked "Brickfield 12.3.1903". It is therefore possible that this object was found at the brick works known to have lain to the north of the village (NHER 5047) and is clearly shown as operational on early 20th-century cartographic sources. This find is however described by (S5) as coming from what is now a levelled pit in the rear garden of a residence. This may describe a large pit what previously lay at the western end of the village (approx. TL 810 949), although there is no evidence that this was associated with brick making. On balance it seems that the site of the old brick works remains the most likely source of this find and the record has therefore been mapped at this location.

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 26 April 2013.