NHER 1396 (Monument record) - Evidence for prehistoric activity, medieval ridge and furrow and post medieval quarrying, Redgate Hill

1961. Fieldwalking.
Area west of Redgate Hill investigated by [1]. Small assemblage of worked flints recovered; these now held by the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1961.288). Information from (S1). These flints were of probable Neolithic date and are listed in (S2) (Table 15; microfiche) as comprising 8 cores, 7 flakes, 5 blades, 1 ?unfinished arrowhead, 13 scrapers and 1 borer.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 18 December 2013.

1970, 1971, 1976 to 1977.
Excavations on Neolithic pits and enclosures and Iron Age settlement. Roman and medieval sherds; Beaker flint assemblage.

Full publication of main site (S2) does not finally decide whether the settlement is Neolithic, Bronze Age or Iron Age; and adds medieval ridge and furrow and post medieval quarry pits. See also sketch (S28).

See (S3) for details of Iron Age features excavated between 1976 and 1977. The finds recovered during this phase of work have been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2001.110).

A phosphate survey of the field to the west of the excavated areas was undertaken by the British Museum Research Laboratory in 1974.
See full details in file.
E. Rose (NAU), 26 November 1993.

April and August 1976. Geophysical Survey.
This work by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory was undertaken in two stages, with an initial scan followed by second survey that saught to more accurately plot the anomalies detected.
A number of worked flints were also found in an area at the western edge of the field but there was no magnetic activity at this location.
See reports (S26) and (S27) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 8 March 2017.

1975. Fieldwalking.
Fieldwalking of area to west of excavation by [1] (area of geophysical survey). The assemblage of worked flints recovered is described in detail in (S4), in which a number of the pieces are illustrated. The assemblage is also summarised in (S2) (Table 15; microfiche). The majority of the material was Neolithic or Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, although 5 small blade cores (2 single-platform and 3 two-platform bipolar) are probably the potentially Mesolithic pieces noted in (S2). One of these cores was drawn (S5).

The quantities for the later prehistoric material given by (S2) and (S4) differ slightly. The assemblage is listed in (S4) as comprising the following (all probably Neolithic unless specified otherwise):
3 cores, including 2 single-platform flake cores (S6) and 1 keeled core.
9 hammerstones.
48 scrapers, including 16 end scrapers (S8) (S10), 1 end scraper with serrated edge (S15), 9 side and end scrapers (S11), 14 horseshoe scrapers (S12) (S13) and 1 disc scraper (S14) and 6 scrapers on broken flakes.
1 discoidal knife (S18).
2 notches.
1 fabricator (S19).
1 spurred flake with spur on scraper-like edge (S20).
4 borers (S21), one with a very long point (a Late Neolithic trait).
1 Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age triangular arrowhead (S7).
2 Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age plano-convex knives (S16) (S17) and possible fragment of third (S22).
10 Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age 'Beaker-type' scrapers, including 5 end scrapers (S9), 1 side and end scraper and 4 horseshoe scrapers.
P. Watkins (HES), 18 December 2013.

1987. Fieldwalking.
Surface collection undertaken by [2]. This work is mentioned in (S2) and (S23). It is clear from (S23) that quite a large area was examined, including a field to the south-east (NHER 17754). Healy lists a number of finds from this phase of fieldwalking in (S2); these presumably only the flints that came from this site and distinct from the material recorded under NHER 17754. The following worked flints are listed in (S2):
14 cores, 26 flakes, 29 blades, 9 scrapers, 1 microlith and 1 end-polished chisel. The microlith is Mesolithic, but no dates are given for the remainder of the collection. It is possible that some of the blades were also Mesolithic, although presumably the majority of the pieces are Neolithic or Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age.
P. Watkins (HES), 18 December 2013.

1995. Fieldwalking.
Further work by [2]. As with earlier fieldwalking it appears that the areas covered by both NHER 1396 and NHER 17754. The only source of information on this work is (S23) and unfortunately the summary given conflates both the evidence from the two sites and the results of the two phases of work. It is recorded that a number of additional Mesolithic pieces were recovered, including blade cores and blades. This material was "heavily plough battered". According to a file note at least some of the blade cores were found at the southern end of this site. It is also reported that a sparse background pottery scatter was identified, although the date of the material recovered is not specified.
P. Watkins (HES), 18 December 2013.

May-June 2001. Excavation.
From Context 1000.
Examined a Late Neolithic roundhouse, pits and postholes, complementing the work of 1970 to 1971.
See report (S24) in file. This work was also reported in (S25)
D. Gurney (NLA), 6 March 2002.