June 2003

  Ancient tools found at football ground

Archaeologists have found a cluster of flint tools during a dig on the site of a new stand at Carrow Road, home of Norwich City Football Club (England). The tools have been provisionally dated to the Mesolithic period (circa 8,000 BCe) but may be as much as 12,000 years old, from the Upper Palaeolithic.
     The excavation revealed a sand island surrounded by peat, which extends under the riverside stadium. It is thought that the artifacts were left by nomadic hunter-gatherers in search of prey, including reindeer, in the river valley during the last glacial period. David Adams, project manager with the Norfolk Archaeological Unit said that the flints were older than anything they were hoping to find: “Within Norfolk it is certainly very important and will probably be of national interest.”

Source: BBC News (16 June 2003)