SNN111725 - Flint deposition in the vicinity of the Dallington Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure, Northampton

A late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignment at Dallington Gateway , Northampton lay in close proximity to the known Dallington Neolithic causewayed enclosure. The fills of the pits in the pit alignment, and some other features, produced quantities of residual worked flint in excess of the quantity recovered from a pit alignment at Harlestone Quarry, a further kilometre distant from the causewayed enclosure. It is suggested that the presence of this flint concentration in the immediate vicinity of the causewayed enclosure defines a zone around the monument that was a focus for contemporary occupation probably during periods when people had travelled to the area to take part in activities centred on the enclosure, following the widespread interpretation of causewayed enclousres as regional centres for seasonal gatherings. A comparison is made to a possible comparable zone defined by flint scatters found at Northampton and Duston, perhaps focussed on a preferred area for occupation close to both the River Nene and the Briar Hill causewayed enclosure. There may have been a similar zone around the Cardington causewayed enclosure, on the outskirts of Bedford.