Flint finds from my folks garden, no nothing I've made

[Alex]

Whilst my Dad was digging holes to put fruit trees in, I noticed a piece of worked flint, my Dad later found another piece. I decided to trowel the last hole carefully and found two pieces of flint, one that appears to have been in a fire and the other was a piece from tool production and the interesting find was with tiny fragments of flint was a hammer stone all roughly 30-40cm down from the surface. Looks like I'm not the only person to have flin knapped in my garden, of course this now poses a problem I have a garden with genuine lithics and the crap I've been making, on the upside the two areas are 30m apart and my stuff is on the brick patio.

Next step a 1m x 1m test pit.

[Matt]

I don't know which of the phrases 'Sods Law' or just 'You jammy sod' is more appropriate

Although I might try to apply a similar scenario to my garden ..... by commencing the manufacture of gold torcs.

Matt

[Alex]

I like the torc plan Matt!!

I've just opened a 1m test pit and from around 10cm down found a side and end scraper, made from river pebble flint.

From 15cm down a red/brown flint, small waste flake that seems to have been quickly modified for use as a scraper.

From 35cm, on the more or less undisturbed compacted soils (the above 30cm was rotavated some years ago) I found a waste flake, it looks like it was removed to create a new face for the flint (brown translucent).

I'm quite chuffed with the garden now.

Oh and I found a lone medieval pottery sherd yesterday.

[Matt]

Cool. Are you planning to take it down any further or extend the trench?

Or could it all be a clever ruse, by your Dad, just to get the garden dug?

[Alex]

Probably go down to a metre or the natural, which ever comes first. I may extend it, but I'm not sure which way would be best. It's a shame that the garden was rotavated and had an orchard growing in it, it's moved most if not all of the finds out of context.

And you may be onto something, my Dad is gleefully rubbing his hands together and suggesting other 'vegetable plot' sized areas to investigate.

[Matt]

This sounds quite familiar.
I found a lot of mid/late Saxon pottery in Mum and Dad's garden a few years back and so we asked if it would be okay to open up a trench "for a couple of weekends" ......

........ 3 months and 3 long trenches later we finally finished and my Dad got his garden back. I don't think they'll be quite so keen to say yes again!

Sounds like you have something really interesting there though, I think you should extend.

[Alex]

I extended it and found nothing more, well not unitl 45cm down, I found a tile or brick poorly made red material with inclusions could be Medieval or Roman?

Closed the trench and back filled it as I ran out of space, started a new one 7m away and produced waste flakes from 0-15cm and another flake at 25cm down.

Feel free to come over and dig around if you want.

[Alex]

And the last find, at 55cm is a possible hard hammer.

[Matt]

Alex, have you checked with the Historic Environment Record (used to be the SMR) to see if there are any other finds in your area?

If not, here is the HER email address: LINCSSMR@lincolnshire.gov.uk

[Alex]

Not yet, was going to mark my flint knapping spot and the finds spot with the SMR or the now renamed HER. I found on the NMR that the only local record (so far put up) was Bronze Age.

Thanks for the email address, will contact them shortly.

[Alex]

Oh and the other side of the village (North) had a Roman Villa, whilst it was being excavated I went and had a look and found a flint scraper, apparently they had a few other finds.

(I think you mentioned the dig to me last year?)

[Alex]

After opening up a plot for pumpkins to be planted I have found a lot of waste flakes and another hard hammer (well used), it's a shame that the garden has been rotavated as it has moved the flint around and out of context. I'm hoping as this is near the hedge that the soil wouldn't have been turned over too deeply and the underlying archaeology is left intact.

[Alex]

Well after much disturbed top soil, at 30cm, I have found what I assume is ridge and furrow with Medieval pottery in the furrows as well as a few flakes of worked flint.

[C J]

Al
It was worth while filming you today at the start of the test pit; you were doing good work and becoming a great archaeologist. Sorry I had to go off to do the day job but Nick was getting on with the filming, I can not wait to see the rushes from the days filming and get my hands on the finds.

[Pauline]

Alex has put a picture up on the news page of the excavated area. This part of the garden was part of the old orchard area and doesn't seem to have been rotivated as the rest of the lawn area has been.

Alex plans to improvise a ranging pole and take some better pictures today - we'd love to hear any other possible interpretations of the soil marks. The only pottery found so far are two sherds of medieval - one unglazed and one glazed olivey-green.