level probably reached about 1.0 m above today's average. Around 500 AD (during the Anglo-Saxon period) spits of land further south started once again to exclude the sea from the local estuaries and the inlets forming the peninsular began to 'dry out'. These natural barriers have subsequently been maintained by man to protect the farmland behind. The coastal erosion in the vicinity has been estimated at an approximate rate of 1.0 m per year and accounts for the loss of an approximate 2.0 km wide strip of land since the Roman invasion of AD 43 as a result of which several medieval villages (e.g. Waxham Parva, Markesthorpe) disappeared into the sea. Note: Details of the past vegetation and climate of the region have been determined from borehole logs (and pollen analysis) such as that at Ranworth Broad. Prehistoric The climate was very different during the Palaeolithic or Old Stone Age Era (pre 10,000 BC) as shown by the bones of elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, hyena, etc. found in East Anglia. However, it is considered that only intermittent human occupation occurred at this time. The majority of the artefacts recorded in the vicinity of Walcott from this period were flint hand axes, which suggests forest clearance. Little activity is noted in the vicinity during the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age Era (10,000 – 5000 BC) with few artefacts recorded. During the Neolithic or New Stone Age Era (5000 – 2500 BC) the majority of the artefacts found in the vicinity are concentrated on higher ground. The number of Bronze Age (2500 – 800 BC) artefacts recorded in the vicinity increases significantly from the Neolithic Era and possibly suggests an increase in the population. There is no natural copper or tin ore in Norfolk so all raw materials must have been imported, probably by trading. Fewer artefacts dating from the Iron Age (800 BC – 43 AD), compared to Bronze Age, have been recorded in the vicinity. However, this could just reflect the fact that iron deteriorates faster than bronze. Certainly more Iron Age pottery has been recorded in the vicinity than Bronze Age pottery. The Norfolk Iron Age tribe were called the Iceni and probably consisted of a group of smaller tribes, as in 54 BC Julius Caesar describes them as the Cenimagni – the Greater Iceni. It is possible that east Norfolk (including Walcott) may have been occupied by one of