Information for record number MWA9087:
Mesolithic flint scatter, Wishaw Hall Farm, Wishaw

Summary A Mesolithic flint scatter uncovered near Grove Lane, Wishaw during site excavations connected with the Birmingham Northern Relief R oad project.
What Is It?  
Type: Flint Scatter
Period: Late Mesolithic (7000 BC - 4001 BC)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Wishaw
District: North Warwickshire, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 17 95
(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 A colluvial flint scatter comprising over one thousand flints was uncovered in the central area of the site. The assemblage originated further up the slope to the west but as a result of erosion was carried down slope filling natural dips and tree throw hollows, from where it was later recovered.
2 This assemblage, in the final report, is dated to the late Mesolithic, with no Neolithic or Bronze Age components (contra
1) noted among the diagnostic elements. A total of 1583 items of struck flint, as well as 38 pieces of burnt unworked flint were found on site 19, representing over 90% of the flint assemblage from the M6 Toll. The main concentration lay to the western edge of the site, clearly continuing beyond the limits of the excavated area. As in
1, the assemblage is described as being redeposited in natural dips and tree throw hollows. It is unlikely that any elements of the assemblage represent in situ deposition. The flintwork represented an accomplished blade-based industry, characterised by the use of soft hammer percussion and careful core preparation, with a full range of knapping products present.
 
Sources
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Archaeology of the M6 Toll 2000-2003
Author/originator: A Powell, B Powell, P Booth, A P Fitzpatrick and A D Crockett
Date: 2008
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Birmingham Northern Relief Road
Author/originator: Oxford-Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture
Date: 2001
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
technique excavation Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.

Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.
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period Mesolithic About 10,000 BC to 4001 BC

Mesolithic means 'Middle Stone Age'. It is the period that comes between the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) and the Neolithic (New Stone Age).

The Mesolithic period is a period of transition from the way people were living during the Palaeolithic period as hunter-gatherers to the development of farming in the Neolithic period.
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period Neolithic About 4000 BC to 2351 BC

The word ‘Neolithic’ means ‘New Stone Age’. Archaeologists split up the Neolithic period into three phases; early, middle and late. The Neolithic period comes after the Mesolithic period and before the Bronze Age.

People in the Neolithic period hunted and gathered food as their ancestors had but they were also began to farm. They kept animals and grew crops. This meant that they were able to settle more permanently in one location instead of constantly moving from place to place to look for food.
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period Bronze Age About 2500 BC to 700 BC

The Bronze Age comes after the Neolithic period and before the Iron Age.

The day to day life of people in the Bronze Age probably changed little from how their ancestors had lived during the Neolithic period. They still lived in farmsteads, growing crops and rearing animals.

During the Bronze Age people discovered how to use bronze, an alloy of tin and copper (hence the name that has given to this era). They used it to make their tools and other objects, although they continued to use flint and a range of organic materials as well. A range of bronze axes, palstaves and spears has been found in Warwickshire.
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monument HOLLOW * A hollow, concave formation or place, which has sometimes been dug out. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument TREE THROW * A bowl-shaped cavity or depression created in the subsoil by the long term presence and growth of tree roots or when a large tree is blown over or has its stump pulled out. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument WELL * A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water. back
monument HAMMER * A machine in which a heavy block of metal is used for beating, breaking or driving something. back
monument FLINT SCATTER * A spatially discrete, though sometimes extensive, scatter of flint artefacts recovered from the surface, eg. by fieldwalking, rather than from a particular archaeological context. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record