the earliest deposits are of a mesolithic (circa 10,000 bc) hunting camp excavated by davey in northbrooks in the 1970s (unpublished) closely followed by the large and unexcavated deposits of neolithic flint beside gilden way. these deposits are mostly known because of the large numbers of surface-bound, worked flint. substantial amounts of worked flint suggest an organised working of flint in the area. large amounts of debitage litter the area and tools found include axeheads, hammers, blades, dowels and other boring tools and multipurpose flints such as scrapers. an organised field walk in the late 1990s by bartlett (unpublished) indicates that most of the area, some 80 hectares, produced worked flint from the neolithic to the bronze age with a smattering of mesolithic. this indicates organised industry existed from 5000 bc to 2000 bc. the deposits are so large and dispersed that any major archaeological work in the area will have to take this into consideration before any ground work is started. harlow was in roman times the site of a small town (around harlow mill railway station) with a substantial stone built temple.