NHER 5642 (Find Spot record) - Palaeolithic handaxes and other flints implements, Broomhill Ballast Pit

Broomhill Ballast Pit (NHER 61098).
This ballast pit, located close to the railway line, produced a significant number of Palaeolithic implements when it was being worked during the second half of the 19th century.

PALAEOLITHIC DISCOVERIES

The first reference to Palaeolithic finds at this site appears to be a paper read by J. W. Flower in 1869 (S1), in which he describes the discovery of implements that are "…usually much rolled and worn, and…often stained to a chocolate-colour". These were described as being found in a layer of ferruginous flint gravel that lay above the chalk bedrock. The site was also visited around this time by J. Evans, who would later also give a reasonably detailed description of the exposed stratigraphy in (S2). Contrary to Flower, Evans states that the artefacts were most abundant in the upper gravel, possibly indicating that artefacts were coming from more than one horizon in the sequence. It appears that artefacts were also recovered from a second, nearby pit around the same time, described by (S2) as being on the lower ground between the railway and the river.
The Palaeolithic discoveries at this site are noted in many subsequent sources, including (S10).

See (S3) for a more detailed summary of the available information on this pit.

THE SURVIVING FINDS

Various museums hold Palaeolithic material that is marked as being from 'Bromehill', 'Broom Hill' or "Brome Hill", although unfortunately few of these objects are associated with a more precise provenance. Whilst the majority of these objects are likely to have come from the pits by the railway line, it should be noted that there is a degree of confusion with the nearby Bromehill Cottage/Botany Bay pit (NHER 5943). It is also possible that some of the these objects are from other pits in the area. As a result all of the objects with an unspecific Broomhill provenance are recorded together under NHER 5641. It should be noted that a number of finds marked simply 'Weeting' could also be from this site - these are discussed under NHER 5592.

Roe's gazetteer (S4) does not list material from the Ballast Pit separately; most if not all of the finds from this site being included in the entry for 'Broomhill - General'. The Broomhill finds are given as:
83 handaxes.
9 unfinished/roughout handaxe.
11 retouched flakes/flake implements.
6 unretouched flakes.
1 miscellaneous fragment.
1 Levallois flake.
These objects are recorded as being held by the British Museum, the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (CUMAA), the Edinburgh National Museum of Archaeology, Hastlemere Museum, Ipswich Museum, Norwich Castle Museum (NCM), the Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers museums in Oxford, the Salisbury Museum, Warrington Museum and York Museum.

Wymer (S3) took the opposite approach, with the majority of the material marked 'Broomhill' (or similar) being considered as part of his discussion of the ballast pit. In (S3) Wymer lists a total of 87 handaxes as being from Broomhill (40 in the British Museum, 13 in the CUMAA, 2 in the Ipswich Museum, 11 in the NCM, 13 in the Ashmolean and 8 in the Pitt Rivers Museum), although this total presumably includes material from all the sites in this area. Other finds listed by Wymer in his discussion of the Ballast Pit site include 9 primary flakes, 1 side scraper, 1 retouched flake and a rare quartzite hammerstone in the British Museum. The finds in the Ashmolean are listed as 1 side scraper, 1 retouched flake and 1 thick flake worked as a handaxe are listed as being held by the Ashmolean. Although Roe also lists 9 axe roughouts and 1 Levallois flake these finds are not mentioned by Wymer in his discussion of the ballast pit site. As noted above this material is discussed in more detail under NHER 5641.

In his discussion of the Broomhill material Wymer (S3) notes that the assemblage is generally in a rolled condition with pointed and sub-cordate handaxe forms predominating. Discrepancies in the proportion of rolled/fresh examples for the different handaxe forms suggest that more than one industry may be represented.

See (S5) and (S6) for further details. This site is also listed in (S7) and (S8), although no additional information is given and again no clear distinction is made between the finds from this site and the unprovenanced material from the Broomhill area.

P. Watkins (HES), 20 May 2013.

OTHER FINDS

Before 1906.
According to the file notes for this site C. Pendleton (SCCAS) has suggested that the 2nd Edition O.S map has a note recording "Romano-British pottery found" on this site. A check of this map suggests that this is incorrect and that the note was on a different site.
E. Rose (NLA), 18 March 1997. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 May 2013.

1962. Stray Find.
Found on surface:
1 prehistoric pottery sherd.
Roman sherds.
These finds are held by the NCM (NWHCM : 1962.95)
See details in file. Information from (S9).
E. Rose (NLA), 23 May 1990. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 May 2013.

It is possible that two late medieval/early post-medieval jug found "when raising gravel at Broomhill" were recovered from this site. See NHER 5652 for further details.
E. Rose (NLA).

RECENT INVESTIGATIONS

October 2017. Trial Trenching.
Investigation of the Broomhill Pit as part of the Leverhulme-Trust funded Breckland Palaeolithic Project.
Two sections are to be cut into the former face of the gravel pit in order to reveal intact sediments relating to terraces of the Little Ouse river, which can then be sampled for electron spin resonance (ESR) dating on quartz. This work will help to establish the geological context of the significant archaeological assemblage recovered at this location.
See Method Statement (S11) for further information. Details of results awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 2 October 2017.