NORFOLK PREHISTORY 65 
the Danish industries, and the peat association shows that the southern 
North Sea basin was then above sea level, confirming the discoveries 
of the Fenland Research Committee, whose borings showed what appeared 
to be the Mesolithic level now 26 ft. below O.D. 
Hellesdon,** Sparham,”4 Lyng,”* and Two Mile Bottom, Thetford,” 
are valley sites, as is also the yet unpublished site at Bowthorpe ; odd 
specimens from Costessey, Salhouse and Great Melton also occur in 
the river valleys ; Hockham has produced a petit tranchet, and further 
west Northwold has yielded Mesolithic material. 
Kelling, Sparham, Hellesdon, Bowthorpe and Costessey have all 
produced polished axes, whilst the crude barbed arrow head and rubbed 
knife from Kelling suggest survival of the industry on this site to early 
Bronze times. At Morston the fresh unpatinated condition of the 
Mesolithic specimens, whether found im situ in the section above the 
purple boulder clay or scattered on the arable, strengthens Solomon’s 
contention that the heavily patinated, iron-stained, chopper-scraper 
industry is pre-Mesolithic, but among these patinated specimens occurred 
a fragment of a polished axe of late type ; it is clear that here also dating 
by patination and staining must be applied with caution. On the whole 
the Norfolk evidence suggests the late survival of Mesolithic industries 
and the correspondingly limited duration of the Neolithic. The eastern 
and south-eastern connections of the Norfolk cultures continue until 
historic times. 
NEOLITHIC. 
Norfolk possesses no long barrows (the nearest being at Royston and 
in south Lincolnshire), no ‘ interrupted’ earthworks, and only scanty 
records of Neolithic pottery, though until a thorough re-investigation 
has been made little importance can be attached to the ceramic evidence 
available. ‘The absence of suitable stone might in itself be sufficient to 
account for the lack of megaliths (though Stukeley refers to a stone circle 
at Gorleston)—the few great erratic boulders usually marking trackway 
junctions give no indications of date—-but in any case the advance of 
Neolithic man from the south-west could not long have preceded the 
arrival of ‘ beaker’ man from the lower Rhine area, since in the Fens 
there is distinct overlap of beaker and Peterborough ware. Leaf-shaped 
arrow heads occur in roughly equal numbers with barbed, whilst the 
extraordinary wealth of flaked or polished specimens for which the 
county is so justly famous cannot be restricted to the Neolithic period, 
but may well range in date from Mesolithic to Iron Age. Hoards of axes 
are recorded from Whitlingham,”® Wells?’ (Norwich Castle Museum), and 
Egmere (Norwich Castle Museum) ; flint sickles occurred at Wrening- 
ham *8 (British Museum), Roydon (Norwich Castle Museum),?8 South 
Runcton (Norwich Castle Museum), and recently a fragment was 
found at Swannington; these again emphasise the eastern relationships 
of the Norfolk cultures. Remains of lake dwellings were discovered 
fUe.P wi ., Ll, i, pp. 194-209. 25 P.P.S.E.A., I, iv, pp. 461-467. 
CORP Sri wily tee edate x V Le HP. PS. A VL pss 
221P PS BAA 3 VEL; 3; p. 73. 
