Findspot record TR 36 NW 551 - Flint flake and pleistocene geological sequence, The Loop, Manston

In 2013, as part of the Stour Basin Palaeolithic project, two test-pits were excavated at The Loop, Manston, to characterise the geological sequence and assess potential for palaeolithic discoveries. A single flint flake was discovered and the geological sequence clarified.

From the report:

"Stratigraphy and distribution of sediments

...two test pits (TPs 1-2) were dug along a broadly north-south transect. The test pits were located at the north edge of the large mapped patch of Head Brickearth that was the target of fieldwork at this site. This area was targeted since it was very close to a location where previous archaeological evaluation for Evron Foods (TR 36 NW 489) had identified a buried landsurface with undisturbed Middle or Late Upper Palaeolithic flint artefacts on it, sealed beneath the Head Brickearth.
…The sub-surface deposit model has been extended northwards from TP 1 to include Section 1 recorded at the south end of the Evron evaluation site.
Topsoil or ploughsoil capped the sequence at all the locations, and there was also c. 50cm thick of modern made ground at TP 1 between the base of the topsoil and the top of undisturbed Quaternary sediments. At TP 2, at the south end of the transect, there was a thin body of flinty/sandy clay-silt (phase Iia), underlain by a thick body of chalk diamict (phase I), which included faint remnants of involution structures filled with sandier/siltier chalk-rich sediment. In TP 1, the same sequence was present as at TP 2, with an additional less clay-silty and more sandy/silty layer (phase Iib) at the top of the pre-Modern sequence. Section 1 of the Evron evaluation was not observable, having either been dug away or obscured by backfill (probably the latter considering the broadly flat topography at the site's location); however the records of the section in the evaluation report showed a similar sequence to that seen in TP 1.

The Quaternary deposit sequence can be summarised as, heading downwards through the phases:
Phase Iib - sand/silt, with flints
Phase Iia - sandy clay-silt, with flints
Phase I - chalk diamict, with involutions in filled with sandier/siltier chalk-rich sediment
Palaeo-environmental remains
No palaeo-environmental remains were present in the deposits.

Dating studies
One OSL date was carried out in TP 1, in the phase Iia sandy/flinty clay-silt (OSL-04). The dating result was 12.68 ± 1.09 kBP, and the stratigraphic location is shown on the sub-surface deposit model… This suggests that the phase Iia deposit is of very late Devensian age, formed after the Last Glacial Maximum. Although the dating comes with a margin of error of ± c. 1000 years, this would suggest deposition during the very final (Loch Lomond/Younger Dryas) cold episode of the Devensian.

Site formation and palaeo-environments
It seems likely that phase 1 is a slopewash deposit of Devensian age, and that phase phase II sediments are slopewash deposits from the cold snap at the very end of the Devensian.
Evidence of Palaeolithic activity
One small flint flake was recovered from TP 1, from towards the base of the phase Iib deposits. It was in mint condition and lightly patinated in places; it was however entirely technologically undiagnostic, and unattributable in terms of date or cultural affinity. This was roughly the same horizon as the larger flint assemblage reported in the Evron evaluation. This was reported as an assemblage of 18 artefacts in "crisp" condition including a Long Blade core, two scrapers and a small cordate biface of Mousterian appearance. This remains curious. The new work failed to identify a palaeo-landsurface, but provided some indication that the deposits below the Evron flint horizons date to the end of the Devensian, if the proposed sub-surface correlations are correct. This would suggest that if there are any undisturbed Palaeolithic remains at the site, they date to the very end of the Upper Palaeolithic, or if they are are of earlier Upper or Middle Palaeolithic date, then they are probably reworked from slightly higher ground to the south." (1)

Kent County Council, 1987-, Kent County Council: holding record (Miscellaneous Material). SKE59004.