Including scrapers and other tools, and debutage. 285 grams, 1.7-10.7 cm



From the collection of a Buckinghamshire, UK, collector established from the earlier 1960s.

A bifacial tapered-form hand axe with river terrace patination, water-worn surfaces and with an inked collection number: '4K.1096.C / TWYDALL'. 308 grams, 10.5 cm



Found Twydall, Kent, UK. Richard Jones collection, Welling, Kent, UK, 1912-1915. Ex Rochester Museum, Kent collections. Specialist collection of J Edwin Jarvis. Ex Martin Schoyen collection, London, UK. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

These tools were part of the collection that was originally donated by a Mr Richard Jones of Welling in Kent to the Rochester Museum. During the period 1912-1915. Mr George Payne of the Kent Archaeological Society also collected along with a Mr George Baker. During 1902 'Sharpes Green Cement Works' was erected, then the smallest cement works on record, using second hand equipment and the last to use Static Chamber Kilns. The processing site was situated on the south shore of the river Medway near Gillingham, Kent, on an island known locally as "Horrid Hill" just off the shore. Horrid Hill was so named because French prisoners of the Napoleonic war who attempted to escape the 'Hulks' moored on the river were hanged here for their efforts. The raw material for the manufacture of cement was extracted from a local quarry in orchard grounds belonging to a Mr Walter Stunt of Lorrendon, Faversham, Kent at a place called Twydall between Chatham and Upchurch. During the removal of the chalk an infilled cavity was broken into on the eastern face of the quarry, which contained very rich lower Palaeolithic material. To facilitate the removal of the extracted chalk from the quarry to the works on the river a trackway was constructed to allow a small horse drawn railway to carry wagon loads of chalk for processing. To transport the loads over the tidal saltmarsh from river bank to the island a causeway was built above the upper tidal limit to the works. The material used was the gravel extracted at the quarry which was useless for the manufacture of cement and which contained the implements. The subsequent erosion caused by the tidal flow of the river exposed the Palaeolithic implements along the stretch of the causeway and, during the period of 1912 to 1915, were collected from the surface. The majority of the material is made up of flakes and cores typical of the 'Clactonian' style with also some Acheulian axes. The implements are well retouched and worked on thick, heavy flakes with high angle platforms, typical of the 'Clactonian' industry. The tools are made from the same marbled north Kent flint which was used at the Swanscombe Palaeolithic site from the ancient lower gravels of the Thames valley. This flint is typically a brown and yellow banded variety derived from the dark green skinned nodules of the "Bull Head" bed which underlies the Thanet sands.

Mainly triangular-section acute-pointed types. 30 grams total, 43-51 mm



Found Norfolk, UK. From an old family collection, 1930s-1960s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Triangular in section with curved tip, square butt. 86.3 grams, 15 cm



Found Spiennes, Belgium. From an old Paris collection. From the private collection of an East Anglian, UK, collector.

From the world renowned and now world heritage flint factory site of Spiennes.

Including scrapers and other tools, and debutage. 250 grams total, 20.6-68 mm



From the collection of a Buckinghamshire, UK, collector established from the earlier 1960s.

Including knapped scrapers and burins, and other types. 90 grams total, 35-68 mm



Found Sahara, North Africa. Ex private London and German collections. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Ecah with long cutting edges and thick butt. 48 grams total, 70-72 mm



Found in the Sahara between Niger, Algeria and Mali. From an old German collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Including one with cortex to the narrow upper face, and other types. 442 grams total, 7.3-11.9 cm



Found Le Grand Pressigny, Touraine, France. From an old French collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Including barbed, scaphoid and other types. 12 grams total, 26-64 mm



Found near the Algerian border, North Africa. From an old German collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Piriform in profile, in pastel cream patina with tones of sky-blue in contrast against the sandy orange colours of the remaining cortex; mounted on a custom-made stand. 590 grams, 15.5 cm (631 grams total, 17.5 cm)



Found Dordogne, France. Ex famous UK musician and amateur archaeologist, Victor Brox (1941-2023). From a private collection, acquired on the UK art market.

Triangular in profile with broad butt; old inked legend '25854'; mounted on a custom-made stand. 793 grams, 17.2 cm (850 grams, 22 cm including stand)



Found North West Africa. Formally part of a French collection built up in the mid 1900s and sold via a European auction house. Acquired on the UK art market from Mr P M based in Kent.

Lentoid in section and tongue-shaped in plan with broad butt. 98.8 grams, 99 mm



Found South Central Sahara. Acquired on the UK art market in the 2020s.