Information for record number MWA893:
Findspot - Palaeolithic handaxe

Summary Findspot - a Palaeolithic handaxe was found to the north-west of Tiddington golf course.
What Is It?  
Type: Findspot
Period: Early Lower Palaeolithic - Late Middle Palaeolithic (1000000 BC - 40001 BC)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Stratford upon Avon
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 21 55
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 About 30 years ago, at Tiddington, a large Palaeolithic hand axe was found at the above grid reference. The axe was found in the foundations of a house in an area of 2nd terrace gravel and the hand axe was probably a constituent of this terrace. The implement is made of light grey flint coated with an ochreous yellow patina. It is larger than most palaeoliths from the county and is fashioned mainly by bold flakes with strong negative bulbs of percussion. It's general flavour is of the Middle Acheulian, a little too dry for my taste. If so the artefact is out of context with the terrace deposit. The axe is, however, greatly worn. On the butt end, covered with chatter-marks, the patina has been removed and the sharply truncated skin can be seen clearly. Both sides are heavily water-worn and the cutting edges are grossly battered.
2 The find is noted in a general history of the Stratford area.
3 Noted by Ordnance Survey.
4 The handaxe is recorded in a national gazetteer of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic finds across the country. This recorded as from Tiddington and was held (temporarily) by Birmingham University Geology Department when the gazetteer was compiled [in the 1960s].
 
Sources
Source No: 4
Source Type: Monograph
Title: A Gazetteer of British Lower & Middle Palaeolithic Sites
Author/originator: Derek A Roe
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 79
Author/originator: Shotton F W
Date: 1960
Page Number: 120-1
Volume/Sheet: 79
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Stratford on Avon
Author/originator: Slater T and Wilson C
Date: 1977
Page Number: 22, 50
Volume/Sheet:
   
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source OS Card Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments. back
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
period Palaeolithic About 500,000 BC to 10,001 BC

Palaeolithic means 'Old Stone Age'.
It covers a very long period from the first appearance in Britain of tool-using humans (about 500,000 years ago) to the retreat of the glacial ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere (about 12,000 years ago).

Archaeologists divide the period up into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, the Lower Palaeolithic being the oldest phase. This period began many, many years after the dinosaurs became extinct (about 65 million years ago). It was during the Palaeolithic period that modern humans replaced Neanderthals, and megafauna, such as woolly mammoths roamed through the landscape.
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monument UNIVERSITY * A group of colleges and associated buildings belonging to a university. back
monument GOLF COURSE * A prepared area of ground used to play the game of golf on. back
monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument FINDSPOT * The approximate location at which stray finds of artefacts were found. Index with object name. back
monument TERRACE * A row of houses attached to and adjoining one another and planned and built as one unit. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record