NEOLITHIC SITES IN UPPER VALLEY OF ESSEX CAM. 61
carbonate and the aretes are very sharp and unweathered. The
assemblage of flakes and cores bears a strong resemblance to the
debris of a working floor at Grimes Graves and is in striking
contrast to other worked flints in the Walden area.
This site, when first discovered, was of great interest. Three
large battered flints (anvil stones) were exposed by a wash-out
of the over-lying soil and formed a rough table, surrounding
which were quantities of spales and cores. These were lying
on the gravel and were exposed in layers of sharp edges in the
overlying bank. Subsequently the turf and loam of the bank
was removed and a trench dug into the gravel. It was found
that the worked flint was limited to a circle about ten feet in
diameter and did not extend into the gravel. Many of the flakes
and cores had small portions of the original crust, which showed
water erosion. The type of flaking is very distinct from that
on other areas in this district and may indicate a different stratum
of culture. The position of the site in relation to the present
water level is significant as indicating the small amount of
valley erosion that has taken place since Neolithic times.
V. Littlebury. Bordeaux Site. Essex. Sheet II. S.E.
Longitude 0° 12' 2" E., latitude 52° 2' 58" N. Elevation
between 130 and 180 feet O.D., and about 6ft. above water
level at the nearest point to the river. The site is extensive
and lies upon the fields between the London and Cambridge
main road and the G.E. Railway from the Bordeaux farms
to Littlebury village. It lies upon a gravel terrace of the Barn-
wellian Series (10), the general structure of which is described
in the Geological Survey Memoir (12). The gravel is covered
with a sandy decalcified loam which in places reaches a depth
of more than five feet. The soil is decalcified, brown and very
sandy.
The artifacts are small and a variety of flakes, cores, scrapers,
points and other implements are found. The bulk of the worked
flint is unpatinated and has a greyish, lustrous appearance,
which is highly characteristic of flint from sandy sites in this
area. The remainder is mainly of the blue mottled type of
patination. A finely worked circular scraper was taken from a
depth of 2ft. 6in. in the loam.
The general character of the worked flint from this site has a