Grimes Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex near Brandon in England close to the border between Norfolk and Suffolk. It was worked between around circa 3000 BC and circa 1900 BC, although production may have continued well into the bronze and iron ages (and later) owing to the low cost of flint compared with metals. Flint was much in demand for making stone axes in the Neolithic period. Flint nodules were always in demand for other uses, such as for building and as strikers for muskets. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 1418 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Standard_of_the_English_Heritage. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Norfolk (pronounced ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. ... The Breckland is a landscape region and unusual natural habitat of England. ... Brandon is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... This article is about the sedimentary rock. ... Brandon is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Norfolk (pronounced ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... (31st century BC - 30th century BC - 29th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2925 - 2776 BC - First Dynasty wars in Egypt 2900 BC - Beginning of the Early Dynastic Period I in Mesopotamia. ... (Redirected from 1900 BC) (20th century BC - 19th century BC - 18th century BC - other centuries) (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events Hittite empire in Anatolia 1829 - 1818 BC -- Egyptian-Nubian war 1818 BC -- Egyptian Campaign in Palestine 1813 BC -- Amorite Conquest of Northern Mesopotamia 1806 BC... This article is about the sedimentary rock. ... Ancient stone tools Flint tools were made by stone age peoples worldwide. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... Muskets and bayonets aboard the frigate Grand Turk. ...

It extends over an area of some 37 ha (96 acres) and consists of at least 433 shafts dug into the natural chalk to reach seams of flint. The largest shafts are more than 14 m (40 feet) deep and 12 m in diameter at the surface. It has been calculated that more than 1,000 tonnes of chalk had to removed from the larger shafts, taking 20 people around five months, before stone of sufficient quality was reached. An upper 'topstone' and middle 'wallstone' seam of flint was dug through on the way to the deeper third 'floorstone' seam which most interested the miners. For other uses, see Chalk (disambiguation). ...

Mining Method

Plan of old shaft and galleries

In order to remove the chalk efficiently, the ancient miners built wooden platforms and ladders as they dug downwards and piled the spoil next to the shaft opening or dumped it into exhausted shafts. The landscape around Grimes Graves has a characteristic pockmarked appearance caused by the infilled shafts. This is probably what inspired the later Saxon inhabitants of the area to name it after their god Grim (more commonly known as Woden). The shafts were not investigated however and their purpose not understood until the nineteenth century. Other similar sites have been found in chalk or downland areas, such as at Cissbury and Spiennes in Belgium. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Best friend of Kanwulf from Nargaroth, former member (drummer) of Gorgoroth_(band), Borknagar and Immortal_(band), committed suicide on 4th of October 1999. ... This is the article about the belief in Odin among West Germanic peoples, for other uses see Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Chalk (disambiguation). ... A downland is an area of open chalk upland. ... Cissbury is the name of a prehistoric site near the village of Findon around 5 miles north of Worthing in the English county of West Sussex. ... Spiennes is a village in the municipality of Mons, Belgium. ...

Tools

Deer antler pick

The miners used picks fashioned from the antler of red deer. They probably used wooden shovels, although this is only inferred by analogy with other flint mines with better conditions for the preservation of artefacts. Analysis of the antlers (Clutton-Brock 1984: 25) has shown that the miners were mainly right-handed and favoured the left antlers out of those that were naturally shed seasonally by the deer. A pick is a tool used for manual labour which consists of a hard spike attached perpendicular to a handle. ... This article is about the species of deer. ...

Once they had reached the flint, the miners dug lateral galleries outwards at the bottom, following the flint. The largest shafts yielded as much as 60 tons of flint nodules, which were brought to the surface and roughly worked into shape on site. The blank tools were then possibly traded elsewhere for final polishing. It is estimated that 60 tons of flint could have produced as many as 10,000 of the polished stone axes, which were the mines' main product. Extrapolation across the site suggests that Grimes Graves may have produced around 16-18,000 tonnes of flint during its lifespan. A nodule describes an aggregation of similar cells or particles in a number of scientific fields: In medicine it refers to a small aggregation of cells. ... In archaeology, a blank is a thick, shaped stone biface of suitable size and configuration for refining into a stone tool. ... Ancient stone tools Flint tools were made by stone age peoples worldwide. ...

There were other hard stones used for axe manufacture, those of the Langdale axe industry and Penmaenmawr in North Wales being traded across Europe, as well as other less well-known igneous and metamorphic rocks. The axes were much in demand for forest clearance and settlement, development of farmland for arable crops and raising animals, which characterises the Neolithic period. The Langdale axe industry is the name given by archaeologists to the centre of a specialised stone tool manufacturing in Englands Lake District during the Neolithic. ... Penmaenmawr is a town in the county borough of Conwy, traditional county of Caernarfonshire, north Wales. ... Approximate extent of North Wales North Wales (known in some archaic texts as Northgalis) is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ...

Customs and Beliefs

One unproductive shaft (pit 15) appears to have been turned into a shrine. An altar of flint lumps had been built with a chalk bowl at its base and antler picks piled around. In front of the altar had been placed a Venus figurine of chalk, a chalk phallus and some balls, also of chalk. It may have been an attempt to ensure that the mine remained productive or 'fertile' after this particular shaft turned out to have little flint in it. However, it is possible that the Venus figurine and the phallus are modern fakes – there is a lack of primary evidence surrounding their recovery in 1939, and rumours circulated at the time of the excavation that they were planted in order to deceive Armstrong, the archaeologist overseeing the dig.(Piggot 1986: 190, Longworth et al 1991: 103-105). Look up Altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... External links Venus figures from the Stone Age Images of women in ancient art http://perso. ...

Neolithic Infrastructure

Such a large industry would have required supporting infrastructure. Assuming no more than two shafts were open at any one time, around 120 red deer would have needed to be bred and managed nearby, in order to provide a steady supply of antler as well as skin, food and other products that the miners would require.

As with the difficult location of the Langdale axe industry, it has been suggested that Neolithic peoples placed great emphasis on acquiring their flint axes from hard-to-reach locations and that such effort gave the tools greater significance. Earlier flint mines in Britain such as Cissbury in Sussex did not approach the size and complexity of the operation at Grimes Graves and it is likely that tools from Grimes Graves were deemed to be in some way important over a wide area. The Langdale axe industry is the name given by archaeologists to the centre of a specialised stone tool manufacturing in Englands Lake District during the Neolithic. ... Cissbury is the name of a prehistoric site near the village of Findon around 5 miles north of Worthing in the English county of West Sussex. ... This article refers to the historic county in England. ...

The Site Today

Grimes Graves is in the care of English Heritage. It is open to the public and it is possible to descend a 9 metre ladder and explore one of the shafts. This is the only shaft of its kind open to the public in Britain. The standard of English Heritage English Heritage is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) with a broad remit of managing the historic environment of England. ...

See also

• Cissbury
• Flint
• Knapping
• Neolithic
• Penmaenmawr
• Spiennes
• Stone tool

Cissbury is the name of a prehistoric site near the village of Findon around 5 miles north of Worthing in the English county of West Sussex. ... This article is about the sedimentary rock. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... Penmaenmawr is a town in the county borough of Conwy, traditional county of Caernarfonshire, north Wales. ... Spiennes is a village in the municipality of Mons, Belgium. ... Ancient stone tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made of stone. ...

References

Barber, M., Field D., Topping, P, (1999)The Neolithic Flint Mines of England, Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England / English Heritage, ISBN 1-873592-41-8

Piggott, S., (1986) 'Early British craftsmen' Antiquity LX No 230, Pages 189-192.

Clutton-Brock, J., (1984) Excavations at Grimes Graves Norfolk 1972-1976 Fascicule 1: Neolithic Antler Picks From Grimes Graves, Norfolk, And Durrington Walls, Wiltshire: A Biometrical Analysis, British Museum Press, ISBN 0-7141-1374-3

Longworth, I., Herne, A., Varndell, G. and Needham, S., (1991) Excavations at Grimes Graves Norfolk 1972-1976 Fascicule 3: Shaft X: Bronze Age Flint, Chalk and Metalworking, British Museum Press, ISBN 0-7141-1396-4

External links

• grid reference TL818898
• Page on English Heritage's website
• 360 degree panorama from the bottom of a shaft
• Picture of a shaft
• More pictures

Coordinates: 52.47585° N 0.67541° E The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...