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Evidence from the Severn Estuary demonstrates that this region was exploited by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer-fishers (Bell, 2007). The potential for future archaeological discoveries (Bell, 2007; Webster, 2007: 273; Bell and Warren, 2013: 39), and the well-preserved palaeoenvironmental evidence in the fine-grained and organic sediments of the Somerset, Avon and Gwent Levels (Hosfield et al., 2007a: 40) makes the area of importance for archaeological study. Small quantities of worked flint have been recovered from the foreshore around Stolford, Porlock and Minehead Bay (Mullin et al., 2009; Canti et al., 1995) implying human activity in the present intertidal zone, which is further enhanced by the suggestion of possible deliberate burning of reed swamps (Jones et al., 2005) similar to that postulated in the Severn Estuary (Brown, 2005, Timpany, 2005; Bell, 2007).

While considerable research has been carried out …