Sanderson site, Denham
Location/Address
None recorded
Type
Other site, structure or landscape
Assets that cannot fit any of the other categories. This category includes sites of archaeological interest, where the original form and function may not be apparent without the use of archaeological techniques and interpretation.Description
Mesolithic occupation site discovered in evaluation and excavation at the former Sanderson factory site, Denham
Evaluation trenches dug in 2002 uncovered a deep sequence of organic peat deposits and fluvial sediments. The sequence represented the former courses of ancient channels, which flowed through the area during the Late Glacial to Early Holocene period (c. 10,000 to 7,000 BP). These were very important for giving the environmental background to the nationally important Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic site at Three Ways Wharf in Uxbridge. The evidence showed that as the ice sheets began to retreat a deciduous forest grew on the banks fo the River Colne by about 9,000 BP. Red deer, roe deer and wild pig replaced the tundra animals of reindeer and horse (B1).
A watching brief and excavation followed in 2004. This was along a proposed flood relief channel. It uncovered an area 15 x 10m, containing several flint scatters. Over 3000 flints were recorded three dimensionally and associated with wild pig and red deer. The remains were situate around an area of dense burnt gravel representing a possible hearth. The flint assemblage contained burins, scrapers, serrates, microliths, cores and waste flakes. The majority of the assemblage consists of waste flakes and cores, suggesting on-site manufacture. The burins, scrapers and serrates also point to carcass and hide processing as well as bone and antler working. The scatters may represent more than one phase of activity. Charred hazelnut fragments associated with the scatters was C14 dated to 9200 BP, the Early Mesolithic period. A collection of larger flakes suggests that an earlier Upper Palaeolithic flint knapping technology may exist within the assemblage (B2).
Statement of Significance
Asset type
Mesolithic occupation site discovered in evaluation and excavation at the former Sanderson factory site, Denham
Date Listed
n/a