Monument record 0998200000 - Preferred Area 4, Denham

The initial fieldwork in Phase 1A, within the immediate area of the previously identified Rusholt Brook gravel island, revealed two new Mesolithic flint scatters. These discoveries are in addition to the previously investigated Early Mesolithic scatters to the west of the island and the identification of these sites continues to demonstrate the previously anticipated high potential for early prehistoric activity on the fringes of the identified Rusholt Brook and Colne gravel islands. The scatters are likely to represent the vestigial basal components of in-situ flint scatters, derived from the manufacture and maintenance of tools. There is little indication that the material is from anything other than short-lived episodes of activity, although in the southern scatter there may be some mixing of earlier and later material. Both scatters have suffered from considerable bioturbation (earthworms, burrowing animals, root action), all of which have redistributed the artefacts from an original ground surface downwards through the soil profile. While the northern scatter appears to be relatively undisturbed horizontally, retaining a reasonable degree of two-dimensional integrity, the southern scatter has evidently been dispersed over a considerable distance, perhaps by overbank flooding or more likely by prolonged agricultural activity (B1).