THE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC OF CHURCHFIELDS, FISHERTON: 160 YEARS IN THE MAKING

Abstract

Researchers of museum collections owe a great debt of gratitude to those responsible for curating the collections; however, staff may frequently remain innocently unaware of significant contents within the accessions. Such is a group of flint artefacts in Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire, which were found in 1860 on the outskirts of the city. The collection was rediscovered during unrelated archaeological research and comprises a series of blades, which include refitting components, demonstrating that the artefacts came from undisturbed prehistoric contexts. The blade blanks had been removed from opposed platform cores, using careful core preparation and soft hammer percussion. These characteristics can be most closely paralleled by Upper Palaeolithic Federmesser industries in Europe, which date from the end of the Last Glaciation. The existence of the Upper Palaeolithic was unrecognised at the time the artefacts were found, since when two other contemporary sites have been identified in the River Avon valley as well as others across the country. The newly recognised addition extends the distribution of Upper Palaeolithic activity further up the River Avon valley to Salisbury, where five rivers congregate, providing a convenient point for further dispersal. The finding also mirrors patterns of occupation on well-drained terrace bluffs overlooking the floodplain. Research results have yielded significant data, 160 years after the collection’s discovery, expanding current knowledge of the Upper Palaeolithic in the River Avon valley and demonstrating the continued value and potential of collections in our museums.