Whitburn, Potter's Hole, Mesolithic or Neolithic site

HER Number:
1998

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
Whitburn, Potter's Hole, Mesolithic or Neolithic site

Place:
Whitburn

Map Sheet:
NZ46SW

Class:
Monument

Site Type: Broad:
Artefact Scatter

Site Type: Specific:
Flint Scatter

General Period:
Prehistoric

Specific Period:
Mesolithic

Form of Evidence:
Find

Description:
"In March 1989 a small number of flints (five "bashed" lumps, a broken core of white patinated flint and a brown trimming flake) were recovered from the cliff face at Potter's Hole. All are the waste products of flint knapping and the creation of tools. The flint is all local. Found with lumps of burnt daub from a timber structure. On examination, the site appears as a band of peaty material c1 metres below current ground level and is associated with structural features including a spread of burnt daub and a pit cut into the limestone bedrock. A series of visits to monitor the cliff face has recovered several more flint artefacts and extended the lateral spread of the site to 20th centurym. It has also been noted that active erosion over the site has lost at least 1 metres to the sea within the last 2 years. The Potter's Hole site is one of considerable archaeological importance and requires further examination. Mesolithic sites with associated structures are exceptionally rare (ref. Howick, Northumberland, where a mesolithic house and flints were found). The peat deposit from which the artefacts were recovered was the original ground surface and could yeild preserved pollen and other organic remains"

Easting:
412

Northing:
637

Grid Reference:
NZ412637

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1998 >> Pers comm. S. Speak, 1991, Tyne and Wear Museums, Archaeological Potential of the Area around Potter's Hole, Tyne and Wear; The Arbeia Society, 2004, The Coast from South Shields to Whitburn - Archaeology and History (Local Heritage Initiative Survey)