In August 2015, Archaeology South-East conducted an archaeological evaluation at Temple Hill School, Dartford. During the evaluation, two Geoarchaeological Test Pits were dug, one in each of the two evaluation trenches. A single Palaeolithic flake was recovered from Test Pit 2. The piece measures 110mm x 44mm, with a maximum thickness of 20.5mm, and is made on banded cherty flint, exhibiting a small translucent unpatinated dark grey flint inclusion. It is in relatively fresh condition with slight iron staining on the ventral side and other mineral staining on the dorsal side. No striking platform is preserved on the flake but based on its size and thickness it is likely to be marginally struck by a hard-hammer. A series of at least seven step and hinge terminations at the proximal end are suggestive of difficulty removing a workable flake from the raw material. The flake is unlikely to be a product of working a biface. Core reduction is a more likely explanation and it may derive from either a Clactonian or Acheulean type industry.

The provenance of the flake cannot be determined with any great accuracy due to collapse in the test pit and contamination of early layers with material from later layers.

From the report: "Unfortunately, due to the loose composition of the sediments, exacerbated by torrential rain the day prior to excavation, GTP2 suffered from frequent collapses. This meant that samples from units 6 and 7 are highly likely to have components of other units included within them. As an artefact was recovered from the Unit 7 sample, it must be treated with caution as the sample is probably contaminated with collapsed sediment. Unfortunately it was impossible to determine from which unit the collapsed sediment was introduced." (1)

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2015, Archaeological Evaluation Report: Temple Hill School, St Edmunds Road, Dartford, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE31502.