Thurrock's Deeper Past: A Confluence of Time' looks at the evidence for human activity in Thurrock and this part of the Thames estuary since the last Ice Age, and how the river crossing point here has been of great importance to the development of human settlement and trade in the British Isles. It is a book about the archaeology of Thurrock. It takes in all periods and most of the sites which have been excavated in the borough of Thurrock over the last sixty or more years. The account opens at a time when Britain is still joined to the continent and the inhabitants are using flint tools and weapons. The author follows through the impact of the succeeding ages on the locality: the melting of the ice, the Neolithic period bringing the farming of crops and stockholding, the first appearance of worked metal in the Bronze Age, through the widespread use of iron in the Iron Age; and then the dramatic impact of Rome and its gradual dissolution to the English kingdoms whose traces are still recognisable today. All is set in the context of the author's lasting interest in the subject, first nurtured at his Tilbury school.

About the Author
Thurrock was home to Chris Tripp for much of his early life. He attended St Chad's Secondary Modern School in Tilbury and then Palmer's Sixth Form College. After years spent in retail he became an archaeologist, graduating from the Institute of Archaeology (UCL) in 1986. He took up his first archaeological post in 1990 at the Passmore Edwards Museum, Plaistow, after which he worked for the Museum of London Archaeology Service and the Essex County Field Unit between 1995 and 2002. During this time he gained his masters degree in public archaeology at UCL. For the next four years Chris worked on various excavations and community archaeology projects including 'The Dig' for the Museum of London, and 'The Big Dig' for Time Team/Channel 4 among many others. Moving to Dorset in 2006, he continued in archaeology and, inter alia established the 'Dorset Diggers Community Archaeology Group' to bring people closer to their local archaeological heritage. It is in this spirit that he began research for this book in 1997, and his labours have been sustained by his passion for the past of his home borough of Thurrock and of the majestic Thames.


Book Information
ISBN 9781789691115
Author Christopher John Tripp
Format Paperback
Page Count 214
Imprint Archaeopress
Publisher Archaeopress
Weight(grams) 398g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 148mm * 10mm