Publications
A Mesolithic site on Iping Common, Sussex, England, by P. A. M. Keef, J. J. Wymer and G. W. Dimbleby, published December 1965 in The Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (vol. 31, article, pp.85-92) View Online
Abstract:The Iping Mesolithic site, found by Mr O. Knowles of Iping, lies on undulating Lower Greensand near the edge of a marsh which extends down to a pond and permanent spring (Sheet 181 O.S. 1". 8485-2221). The site was totally excavated in 1960-61, by the West Sussex Excavation Group, following its accidental discovery. It consisted of a roughly circular area, about 25 feet across, of stained sand (Layer C) stratified between white sands (Layers B and D), all underlying the topmost deposit of heather on peat (Layer A). The white sand occurs as wind-blown material intermittently over the Lower Greensand of west Sussex, south Surrey and Hampshire. The darker stained layer was less than 6 inches thick and contained an abundant flint industry of cores, waste flakes and finished tools. The industry is of Maglemosian aspect and is important for its association with a well-preserved pollen which has yielded information about the contemporary environment.
Evidence of pedogenesis from a neolithic site at Rackham, Sussex, by G. W. Dimbleby and R. J. Bradley, published September 1975 in Journal of Archaeological Science (vol. 2, issue 3, article, pp.179-186, ISSN: 03054403) View Online
Abstract:A rich assemblage of Neolithic flints and associated charcoal lies at a depth of 15-20 cm in what is now a strongly-leached podzol. The site was probably associated with butchery and the preparation of animal materials using flint implements manufactured on the site. The pollen profile suggests that the contemporary vegetation was mixed deciduous forest and that the artifacts were buried by earthworm action. Subsequent deforestation and the development of Calluna heath would have led to the extinction of the earthworms and the development of the present podzol.