Description

Summary: An assemblage of Mesolithic flint from the buried soil at Oliver's Hill Field, Cherhill, Wiltshire, excavated by I F Smith and J G Evans, on behalf of WANHS, 1967.

Research results

1007 Mesolithic flints from Oliver's Field, inlcuding all of those from the 'working hollow' and buried soil, were re-examined by Davis (2012) as part of their PhD with the University of Worcester. The study is critical of previous, environmentally deterministic, studies of Mesolithic material culture and attempts to ask whether or not Mesolithic use of spring sites in the South West of England was a meaningful choice, rather than a convinient base for hunting expiditions. In particular, a phenomenological approach to tufa springs was adopted, noting the symbolic potential of the springs which can form a stone 'skin' on objects within seconds, or form friable, bone-like layers of stone.

An assemblage of Late Mesolithic flint recovered from the buried soil sealed below a layer of tufa at Oliver's Hill Field, Cherhill, Wiltshire, excavated by I F Smith and J G Evans, on behalf of WANHS, 1967. The small assemblage of only 58 worked flints is probably a reflection of both later disturbance, but also deteriating local conditions. Many flakes were found alinged vertically, and under thick layers of tufa, suggesting that the ground was becoming increasingly boggy and that the main foci of activity may have moved elsewhere. The layer of tufa, a calcium carbonate precipitate which forms when calcium rich water degasses, also provides a terminus ante quem for the sealed Mesolithic layers of c. 5840 cal BC.