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Excavations of a Mesolithic Site at Thatcham, Berkshire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

F. Healy ,
M. Heaton ,
S. J. Lobb ,
M. J. Allen ,
I. M. Fenwick ,
R. Grace  and
R. G. Scaife
F. Healy
Affiliation:
Oxford Archaeological Unit, 46 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EP
M. Heaton
Affiliation:
Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, South Porrway Estate, Old Sarum, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 6EB
S. J. Lobb
Affiliation:
Foyle Hill House, Foyle Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP4 0PT
M. J. Allen
Affiliation:
Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, South Porrway Estate, Old Sarum, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 6EB
I. M. Fenwick
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Reading, Whiteknights, P.O. Box 227, Reading RG6 2AB
R. Grace
Affiliation:
University of Oslo, Institutt for Arkeologi, Kunsthistorie og Numismatikk, Frederiks Gate 3, 01164 Oslo 1, Norway
R. G. Scaife
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO9 5NH
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Abstract

Excavations were undertaken in advance of construction work at Newbury Sewage Treatment Works on the outskirts of Thatcham in Berkshire, close to the sites of previous excavations undertaken by Wymer and by Peake and Crawford. Worked flint of Mesolithic date was recovered from a sandy layer overlying river gravel in two distinct concentrations suggesting two distinct episodes. Use wear analysis of the flint suggests that the sites were used as home bases at which a wide range of activities took place, with an emphasis on the processing of plant foods. A 14C date of 9100±80 BP was obtained from a sample of hazel-nut shells from within one of the concentrations. Analysis of the soil and sedimentary sequence as well as the pollen indicates constantly changing localised environments in the early Holocene in the Thatcham area, with sporadic occupation by Mesolithic communities on the drier areas at the edge of the floodplain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , 1992 , pp. 41 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1992

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References

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