Lithic scatters in the British Isles:

from antiquarianism to heritage protection

Dr. Clive Jonathon Bond

Department of Archaeology

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

The University of Winchester

UK

Introduction and Presentation Structure

Lithic Scatters in the British Isles:

• Antiquarianism, Museums and Collectors: an origin

- The joy of ‘flinting’!

• Some 30 years of walking the land: Was it just more dots on maps?

- Three stages of research, methodology, practice and policy

• Lithic scatters: Amateur scholars and professional walkers:

- Lithics scatters: A proud amateur tradition in the provinces

- Accessing field archaeology: Continuing Education and the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS 1996)

- Community Archaeology and Heritage Protection Reform…

• Conclusions: Lithics scatters, a resource worth valuing?

- Sustainable and integrated ways of working: amateur/professional archaeology

- Cost effectiveness and community-learning: Roles, rights and responsibility

- Challenges: Volunteers in The Big Society; Democratising Heritage Assets including lithic scatters; The peoples’ collections, artefacts and sites!

Antiquarianism, Museums and Collectors: an origin

• The joy of ‘flinting’!

- John Evans’ (1860) Hoxne–like handaxes, ‘That they are implements fashioned by

the hand of man, a single glance at a collection of them placed side by side… would,

I think, be sufficient to convince’

- John Lubbock’s (1869) Prehistoric Times, observed, ‘The immense number of

implements which occur, in all parts of the world, is sufficient evidence of the

important part they played in ancient times’

- Museums and Private Collections: e.g. The Sturge Collection (British Museum,

London), 1919; Pitt Rivers Museum’s Collection, The University of Oxford;

Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, The University of Cambridge

- Provincial Museums and Antiquarian Societies: e.g. Norfolk and Norwich

Archaeological Society; The Cambridge Antiquarian Society; The Somerset

Archaeological and Natural History Society; The Prehistoric Society of East Anglia.

Antiquarianism, Museums and Collectors: an origin

• Provincial Collectors and Walkers

- Recovering ‘Stations’ of prehistoric occupation

At the ‘Cissbury Type’ Station at Great Melton, Norfolk, Clarke and Halls (1916-

17), recorded,

‘The station itself covered a larger area than usual, the implements and flakes

being scattered over five large fields, with a river frontage of half a mile and a

depth of a quarter of a mile.’

From the ‘ploughlands’ of South-West Leicestershire, Pickering (1917-18) recorded,

‘The district surveyed covers twenty square miles in and around Hinckley… all

the artefacts described are surface finds… from the number and close

distribution of the artefacts and waste material found, several of these sites

may, I think, be taken as definite Chipping Floors.’

Some 30 years of walking the land: Was it just more dots on maps?Lithic scatters in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1980-2009

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• Changing concept…

• The Site or ‘Station’ e.g. F. N. Hall

(1911)

• Off-Site Archaeology (Foley 1981)

• Home-range Production, Activity

Areas and Ploughzone Archaeology

(Schofield 1991)

• The Dwelling Perspective (Ingold

1993)

• As Socially Constructed Landscapes,

Paths and Locales (Tilley 1994)

• Taskscapes, Locales and the Roll Call

(Edmonds 1997)

• Residential Modes, Movement and

Tethered Mobility (Whittle 1996,

1997)

• Inhabitation (Chadwick 2004).

Lithic scatters in Lithics, 1980-2009

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Some 30 years of walking the land: Was it just more dots on maps?

1. Mesolithic, 2. late Mesolithic-early Neolithic

transition, 3. late Neolithic-early Bronze Age, 4.

unclassified

1999Milfield Basin,

Northumberland

Predominately: Mesolithic, 2. earlier Neolithic, 3.

Mesolithic and/or earlier Neolithic, 4. later Neolithic,

5. Beaker, 6. Bronze Age, 7. indeterminate later

Neolithic or early Bronze Age, 8. Mixed or undated,

9. Non-site

1991Wissey embayment,

Norfolk

1. earlier Neolithic, 2. middle to late Bronze Age 1991Maiden Castle field survey

1. Mesolithic, 2. early Neolithic, 3. later Neolithic,

Beaker, 4. later Bronze Age

1990Stonehenge Environs

1. Mesolithic, 2. Earlier Neolithic, 3. Later

Neolithic/earlier Bronze Age, 4. Middle to late

Bronze Age

1985East Hampshire

A. Mesolithic, B. Mesolithic or early Neolithic, C.

later Neolithic, probably with some Mesolithic,

earlier Neolithic or middle Neolithic present, D. late

Neolithic, E. late Neolithic or earlier Bronze Age, F.

later Bronze Age, G. undated

1987North Stoke, Oxfordshire

1. Mesolithic, 2. Mesolithic/earlier Neolithic, 3.

earlier Neolithic, 4. later Neolithic/earlier Bronze

Age, 5. later Neolithic/Bronze Age, 6. later Bronze

Age/Iron Age, 7. Undated

1987East Berkshire

1. Mesolithic, 2. early Neolithic, 3. later

Neolithic/early Bronze Age, 4. Middle to early

Bronze Age

1978Berkshire Downs

DescriptionDateStudy area

Stonehenge Environs, Wiltshire

Thornborough, North Yorkshire

Walking the Land… not just more dots on maps!

148405Total

695X_XXMilfield Basin, Northumberland

15512X_XXWissey embayment, Norfolk

8384+

(areas 1-16)

XXXXMaiden Castle field survey

102175X_XXStonehenge Environs

2682XXXXEast Hampshire

10158XXXXNorth Stoke, Oxfordshire

6533XXXXEast Berkshire

2266XXXXBerkshire Downs

Number of

lithics

Comparison to

Excavated

assemblages

Metric

analysis

TypologyTechnologyStudy area

Since 1975 lithic scatter studies in the British Isles may be characterised by three stages

of development:

• c.1975-c.1987 – Sampling and Field Methods

• c.1987-c.1995 – Extensive Sub-Regional and Regional Survey

• c.1995-c.2011 – Analysis, Interpretation and Community Engagement.

Lithic scatters: amateur scholars and professional walkers

• Lithic scatters: a proud amateur tradition, the Fen-edge

- A landscape of lithic scatters: Hockwold cum Wilton,

Feltwell and Methwold, the Norfolk fen-edge, Frank

Curtis, 1948-1972, ‘His rare capacity for investigation

and recording in addition to collection...’

- Achievement: Working on the land, recording artefact

scatters from the peat as they are uncovered; recording

location; quantity; range of artefacts; notifying the

Museum Service; demonstrating the unique time-depth of

scatters in this fragile landscape

- Impact: The 1980s Fenland Project Survey in Norfolk

(Silvester 1991).

PAS artefacts from Somerset

Lithic scatters: amateur scholars and professional walkers

• Accessing field archaeology: Continuing Education

- Higher Education Access and Inclusion in the 1960s-90s: growth of departments in Extra-Mural Studies, Adult Education and Life Long Learning: Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Leicester, York, London…

- Professional/Amateur interface: Departmental projects, e.g. The Shapwick Project(1989-1999), Somerset and one-off opportunities for field work, e.g. CatsholmeFarm, Methwold Hythe, Norfolk (2004).

Lithic scatters: amateur scholars and professional walkers

• Accessing field archaeology: the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS 1996):

- Finds of metal objects and others were recorded from the start, 1996…

- Traditions: Lithic and stone artefact records may relate to the grass-roots traditions of ‘flinting’ in the regions; it may not just be metal detectorists and ad-hoc walkers…

- Artefact, Assemblage and Site Recording:From PAS database to field walking…

Lithic scatters: amateur scholars and professional walkers

• PAS lithic records are important:

- They constitute a large proportion of Prehistoric recorded across England and Wales

- There is a pattern in the PAS dataset…

- It is not about numbers of artefacts per site; it is sites, ‘events’ complementing the County-based Historic Environment Record

- Opportunity for re-visiting sites and museum or private lithic collections.

Lithic scatters: amateur scholars and professional walkers

• Field work: e.g. The Clodgy Moor Project, West Penwith, Cornwall…

- Graham Hill: A most ‘professional’, systematic and dedicated amateur archaeologist... guided by professional curatorial and museum staff…

- Accurate Recording: In-field records; collection catalogue; drawing and assigning technology/typology/dates of groups of material; working with County Museum Services, County Historic Environment Record Services and PAS staff…

- Walking the land: A regional tradition of ‘flinting’ continues, but with GPS…

Lithic scatters: amateur scholars and professional walkers• Community Archaeology and Heritage Protection Reform…

- Skilled and Responsible Amateur Practice: The enthusiasm, skills and dedication

of thousands of amateurs across England and Wales remains… people walk and

collect lithics and self-record or offer plough-derived assemblage to be recorded by

others. This is a unique and important dataset

- Community Traditions: The long held regional traditions of ‘flinting’ can and must

be harnessed for community-learning and self-realisation for grass-roots protection

of Heritage Assets (Local Listing, but also community-led field work with

professional guidance)

- ‘Bottom-Up’ Heritage Protection: If amateurs and the community is not engaged,

a loss of heritage assets may result, at a time of great change in planning legislation

and predicted large-scale development and regeneration…

Conclusions: Lithics scatters, a resource worth valuing?

• New Ways of Working...

- Sustainable and integrated ways of working: amateur with professionals…

- Cost effectiveness and community-learning: Roles, rights and responsibility…

- Challenges: Volunteers in The Big Society; Democratising Heritage Asset

Protection, including lithic scatters...; The peoples’ collections, artefacts and sites!

• Future Practice: To be based on a mixture of quality professional case studies and a

rich amateur tradition. This working together, sets the British Isles apart, and is in a

unique place to develop sustainable ways of managing lithic scatters for the present

and future communities inhabiting a very ancient land

• Walking the land and study of lithic assemblages: From now others will join

professionals in-field… Together we go forward, with a glance looking back!