Oldest Structure in London found at Vauxhall
The THAMES DISCOVERY PROGRAMME TEAM report:
'The OLDEST STRUCTURE in LONDON
Archaeologists from the UCL-based THAMES DISCOVERY PROGRAMME have just announced the discovery of the oldest structure yet discovered in London. They have found a group of 6,000-year-old wooden piles on the open foreshore near Vauxhall Bridge, only revealed at very low spring tides. They have only just been exposed by increased tidal scour over the last two or three years. Radiocarbon samples from the piles have returned dates of between 4792-4610 cal BC; 4690-4490 cal BC and 4720-4540 cal BC. River levels were much lower at this period, and thus the structure (or structures) were probably built on dry land. The site lies in the shadow of the MI6 building, and thus access is not always easy.
A Mesolithic flint tranchet adze has also been recovered from the area, in addition to later Neolithic pottery and fire-cracked flints. The site is only a 100m from the Late Bronze Age pile-built 'bridge' or jetty, recorded by a joint UCL/ Museum of London team in 1993-5.
Mesolithic sites are very rare in London, and are usually only
represented by flint scatters, rather than by structures. Much more
study is required to make sense of the new find at Vauxhall, and the site should be closely monitored over the next decade, to allow the Thames to expose more of the site and its finds.
The work is being conducted by the Thames Discovery Programme team
(which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund) in collaboration with the Museum of London and archaeologists from English Heritage and from UCL.'
'The OLDEST STRUCTURE in LONDON
Archaeologists from the UCL-based THAMES DISCOVERY PROGRAMME have just announced the discovery of the oldest structure yet discovered in London. They have found a group of 6,000-year-old wooden piles on the open foreshore near Vauxhall Bridge, only revealed at very low spring tides. They have only just been exposed by increased tidal scour over the last two or three years. Radiocarbon samples from the piles have returned dates of between 4792-4610 cal BC; 4690-4490 cal BC and 4720-4540 cal BC. River levels were much lower at this period, and thus the structure (or structures) were probably built on dry land. The site lies in the shadow of the MI6 building, and thus access is not always easy.
A Mesolithic flint tranchet adze has also been recovered from the area, in addition to later Neolithic pottery and fire-cracked flints. The site is only a 100m from the Late Bronze Age pile-built 'bridge' or jetty, recorded by a joint UCL/ Museum of London team in 1993-5.
Mesolithic sites are very rare in London, and are usually only
represented by flint scatters, rather than by structures. Much more
study is required to make sense of the new find at Vauxhall, and the site should be closely monitored over the next decade, to allow the Thames to expose more of the site and its finds.
The work is being conducted by the Thames Discovery Programme team
(which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund) in collaboration with the Museum of London and archaeologists from English Heritage and from UCL.'
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