NHER 4596 (Find Spot record) - At least one prehistoric pebble mace, Cotes Common

Pre 1851. Stray Find.
According to (S1) in the mid 19th century the Norwich Castle Museum held an object described as a 'maul head' that had been found on 'Cotes Common', in what was then the the parish of Sporle. A note on (S2) suggests this may have been recovered from a barrow, although it is unclear where this information was from. Although the exact location of this find is unknown the position of Cotes Common is clearly marked on (S3). This find is also also noted in (S4) and (S5) and is presumed to be the object described by Evans in 1897 (S6) as a 3.18in (7.9cm) long perforated quartz pebble hammer from Sporle. According to (S2) this object was also illustrated by Strickland Neville-Rolfe (illustration No. 1059), most likely to accompany his extra-illustrated and expanded version of Blomefield's 'Essay towards a topographical history of the county of Norfolk' (not confirmed).

It is clear from (S6) that this object is what would now be described as a pebble mace with an hour glass perforation. This simple form of mace - unmodified apart from the central perforation - is not closely datable, having been found in both Mesolithic and later prehistoric contexts (see (S7)). In October 2014 this object was identified in the NCM's collections (unregistered).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 22 July 2013 and 28 October 2014.

Pre 1897. Stray Find.
According to Evans (S8) the NCM also held a second quartzite pebble object from Sporle, this described as a hammer head with a conical depression on each face. This object is listed on (S2) as being 9.5cm (3.75in) x 6.9cm (2.75in) x 4.4cm (1.75in). This was most likely an unfinished pebble mace. It is noted on (S2) that this object was also donated by G. Johnson and that it was possibly also from Cotes Common.

In October 2014 this object was identified in the NCM's collections (unregistered).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 22 July 2013 and 28 October 2014.