Prehistoric tools discovered in Frome

PREHISTORIC tools have been discovered by a local man on a site in Frome, which will now lead to a full archaeological dig and geophysical survey. It is hoped that the discovery will shed more light on where prehistoric people lived and hunted in this area.

Local ‘finder’ Andrew Edwards discovered the flint tools in a field on Feltham Lane to the south of the town, close to the banks of the River Frome. The tools have been validated by local archaeology experts. Andrew is writing a booklet on his find and an exhibition of the tools at Frome Museum is planned for the summer.

Andrew, who is also a retired biomedical sciences graduate, told Frome Times that he discovered the tools by chance, despite working on several sites to the south of Frome with the Bath and Counties Archaeological Society. 

He says the tools could date back 8,000 years.

“After weeks searching other sites, I took a wander through this field, with the landowner’s permission, when I found these tools,” Andrew explained. “I was quite shocked to find them!”

Andrew believes that the discovery indicates that the site was an area where prehistoric people made their tools – but he is unsure where in the area they lived. 

Mystery

“That remains a mystery,” said Andrew. “It could be another part of Frome – but Frome was originally on a cliff, which has been filled in using infill from the quarry over the years – so it’s quite possible that there are a lot of caves underneath Frome where these people lived. 

“They may have come to Frome because of the river, which is full of fish – it certainly would have been a magnet for many people from many miles around.” 

The tools are believed to be from the Mesolithic Era, which Andrew says lends itself to his ‘fishing theory’. 

“The Mesolithic Era was all about fishing and spears, which is why we think we have found all these blades. It really has been a very interesting and exciting find.” 

Andrew explains that dating the site at Feltham Lane is difficult without human bones – but he says that the site may be older in age than other prehistoric sites in Frome, in Easthill and Rodden, which were both listed as prehistoric sites in 1984 by the Somerset County Heritage Archaeological and Environmental Record. 

He said, “At the Feltham Lane site, lithic or stone objects were the first indication that a prehistoric site was present. The items that were recovered were very small blades or microliths, some as small as only 6mm, but others as large as 3cm have also been found. 

“Upon further investigation, ‘find sites’ in the middle of western France, more specifically the Dordogne region, have been dated to 14,000BC. At those ‘find sites’ in France, microlithic blades have been recovered of almost the same design as those found at Feltham and Cheddar. 

French connection

“This does not mean that the Feltham site is dated to 14,000 BC, but it could mean that the same group of people may have lived at both the Mendip area and the Dordogne. These people were called the Madeleinians – named after a rock shelter in the Dordogne where these blades were first found, that is also called La Madeleine. 

“At 14,000BC most of the UK was still unhabitable. Therefore, we believe that the Madeleinians gradually migrated northwards, possibly in pursuit of food, from approximately 14,000BC to around 10,000BC 

“By 10,000BC we know that mammoths were living in the region of what we now call Shrewsbury. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that by 10,000BC the climate and vegetation had improved sufficiently for people to live on the Mendips. 10,000BC is probably around the date that people arrived at the Mendips after the final Ice Age, from farther south, from France. 

“The Madeleinians had to be able to carry their weapons, so they had to be lightweight and mobile. This necessitated the need to create small blades, arrows and spears. The period that the Madeleinians lived on the Mendips was called the Mesolithic Period. Madeleinians mostly fed from fish and birds, this is possibly why they settled around Frome. The abundance of chert (fine-grained sedimentary rock) to make weapons, freshwater and rock shelters were a combination of factors that made habitation of Frome possible.”

About his find, Andrew is writing a booklet titled ‘Shining light on the prehistoric habitation of Frome’ – copies of the booklet will be on sale at the Frome Museum, with all profits donated to the museum. 

There will also be an exhibition in the summer with the prehistoric tools from the Frome site on display, with more information about how they were made and the prehistory of the area.