SCRAPER (TOOL)

Three flint scrapers of probable Neolithic or Bronze Age date, c. 4,000-1,600 BC.

1. Incomplete tertiary flake of dark brown-grey flint speckled with pale inclusions and with iron staining on removal scar ridges. Proximal end lost to a natural break, with long, abrupt, sub-parallel retouch at the distal end, becoming increasingly short, scalar and semi-abrupt along the right edge of the dorsal face. The ventral face is unworked. Dimensions: length 33.6mm; width 24.7mm; thickness 9.2mm; weight 8.82g.

2. Secondary flake of mottled pale grey flint, with cortex surviving on the left lateral edge. A striking platform survives at the proximal end, with diffuse bulb of percussion and bulbar scar. Short, semi-abrupt, scalar retouch is exhibited around the distal and right edges of the dorsal face, with the ventral face unworked. Dimensions: length 34.9mm; width 23.6mm; thickness 8.9mm; weight 7.65g.

3. An incomplete primary flake of chert-like pebble flint, with proximal end lost to a natural break. The dorsal face exhibits long, sub-parallel, semi-abrupt retouch at the distal end. Dimensions: length 32.9mm; width 35.2mm; thickness 7.1mm; weight 9.11g.

Although caution must be used when dating such a small assemblage, the general character of the flints and in particular the limited retouch, would probably suggest a Neolithic or Earlier Bronze Age date range.