1884.132.285

Collection type

Object

Description

Stone flake

Long description

Stone flake of white and light grey patinated flint. [JW [Excav. PR] 31/05/2013]

Geographical reference

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

England East Sussex Lewes Newhaven Castle Hill Hillfort

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector William Whitaker

Field collector Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Archaeological period: Neolithic, uncertain Archaeological period: Bronze Age, uncertain

Date collected

By 1874

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Flint Stone, Process Flaked

Dimensions

Thick: max 4 mm, Width: max 15 mm, Length: max 36 mm, Weight 3 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.132.285 PR Cat other PR nos: 3224

Research and responses

The primary documentation is not completely clear that this was collected by Whittaker, and this object may have been collected by Pitt-Rivers himself. [Dan Hicks 16/08/2013]

In his 1869 paper on the Sussex hillforts, Pitt-Rivers described this site as follows: "THE CASTLE, NEWHAVEN.—Three miles west of this fort, upon a commanding height, and, like the two just described, partly destroyed by the erosion of the cliff, stands the intrenchment known as the castle of Newhaven. The modern work now in process of erection for the defence of the port cuts through part of the ancient earthwork, and in the course of its construction the remains of a kitchen-midden, including specimens of worked flints, were brought to light in the interior of the old work, and have been described in the Anthropological Journal. [Note: Journal of the Anthropological Society, No. 15, Oct. 1866, clxxxvii. The deposit included, besides flints, the evidence of the artificial workmanship of which appeared doubtful, fragments of pottery, supposed to be Konian, and bones of domesticated animals.] About 1680 yards of the northern front still remain, and it appears to be arranged in a succession of re-entering curves and salient points, but the whole configuration of the surface has been so much altered by deep fissures, and by the decomposition and settlement of the plastic clay on which it stands, that it is difficult to judge of its original form. Enough however remains to show that this work, like that of Beltout, occupied the whole summit of the hill, and conformed to the outline of the brow. Advantage was probably taken of a natural terrace to give additional command to the rampart. Plate VII. fig. 4 is a section of the only portion of this work in which any trace of an external ditch is discernible. The fort commands the whole of the surrounding country, but the view is limited to the north-west." (Lane Fox 1869: 34-35). [Dan Hicks 16/08/2013]

Associated publications

Lane Fox, A.H. 1869. An examination into the character and probable origin of the Hill Forts of Sussex. Archaeologia 42: 27-52. [Dan Hicks 16/08/2013]

Search terms: Tool, Flake