Prehistoric Norfolk
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The prehistory of the County of
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
is broken into specific time periods, these being Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic . Norfolk has a very rich prehistoric past, from the
Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
era 950,000 years ago, to end of the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
2000 years ago. Indeed, Norfolk has the earliest evidence of human occupation of what is now Britain, and some of the country's best-preserved
archaeological sites An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...
.


Palaeolithic

The period from almost three-quarters of a million years ago until around 10,000 years ago. During the Palaeolithic and
Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
periods the coast of Norfolk would have been 60–70 km further to the north than today, with much of the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
a wide, open plain. The size of the habitable land would have varied through the different
glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
and
interglacial An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene in ...
periods up until the end of the
Anglian Stage The Anglian Stage is the name used in the British Isles for a middle Pleistocene glaciation. It precedes the Hoxnian Stage and follows the Cromerian Stage in the British Isles. The Anglian Stage is correlated to Marine Isotope Stage 12 (MIS 12), ...
, as would have the
climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...
,
flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...
and
fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
, and the general landscape of Norfolk. The Anglian glaciation was the 3rd from last glacial stage and occurred between 400,000 and 500,000 years ago. This stage was the last time the ice sheets reached
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
and it resulted in the deposits known as the Corton Formation. The majority of the evidence for Lower and Middle Palaeolithic occupation in East Anglia survives as redeposited flakes and tools recovered from river gravel deposits. These river gravels were laid by the
ancestral Thames The Ancestral Thames is the geologically ancient precursor to the present day River Thames. Relationships with other rivers During the Early and Middle Pleistocene, central and southern Britain had two main rivers of more than : the Bytham and ...
and
Bytham River The Bytham River is said to have been one of the great Pleistocene rivers of central and eastern England until it was destroyed by the advancing ice sheets of the Anglian Glaciation around 450,000 years ago. The river is named after Castle Byth ...
systems. Large quantities of artefacts were identified from gravel quarries during the 19th and early 20th century due to the increased demand for gravel in the construction industry and the hand sorting of this gravel.


Lower Palaeolithic

* c. 950,000 BC.
Homo antecessor ''Homo antecessor'' (Latin "pioneer man") is an Extinction, extinct species of archaic human recorded in the Spanish Archaeological Site of Atapuerca, Sierra de Atapuerca, a productive archaeological site, from 1.2 to 0.8 million years ago durin ...
evidence in Norfolk. Bones and
flint tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...
s found in coastal deposits near
Happisburgh Happisburgh () is a village civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is on the coast, to the east of a north–south road, the B1159 from Bacton on the coast to Stalham. It is a nucleated village. The nearest substantial to ...
. The artefacts were ''in situ'' in riverine deposits of the
Cromer Forest Bed The Cromer Forest Bed is a geological formation in Norfolk, England. It consists of river gravels, estuary and floodplain sediments predominantly clays and muds as well as sands along the coast of northern Norfolk. It is the type locality for the ...
series. Experts previously thought the earliest humans arrived 700,000 years ago. The flint assemblage consists of; **an ovate
handaxe A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually flint or cher ...
, **a thinning flake/
handaxe thinning flake In archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure,"Andrefsky, W. (2005) ''Lithics: Macroscopic Approaches to Analysis''. 2d Ed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press and may also be refe ...
, **a
flake Flake or Flakes may refer to: People * Floyd H. Flake (born 1945), A.M.E. minister, university administrator, former U.S. representative * Jeff Flake (born 1962), American politician * Christian "Flake" Lorenz, German musician and member of ...
, **a
scraper Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...
, **29 flakes &
hammerstone In archaeology, a hammerstone is a hard cobble used to strike off lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone during the process of lithic reduction. The hammerstone is a rather universal stone tool which appeared early in most regions of the wo ...
(?) & fragments, **
retouched Photograph manipulation involves the image editing, transformation or alteration of a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. Some photograph manipulations are considered to be skillful artwork, while other ...
flint flake, **and Lower(?) Palaeolithic ovate flint hand axe. The importance of the flint assemblage of Happisburgh is not just to the understanding the prehistory of Norfolk, but to the understanding of prehistoric Europe. This is due to the first mentioned
hand axe A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually flint or che ...
in the assemblage. The hand axe is an
ovate handaxe A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually flint or ch ...
made from black flint with pale grey coarse-grained inclusions, one face carries two small areas of pebble
cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...
, and is in near perfect condition. This handaxe is believed to be the earliest tool yet found in Europe; it was probably used as a knife for cutting up carcasses. The environmental conditions of Happisburgh, shown through
pollen analysis Palynology is the "study of dust" (from grc-gre, παλύνω, palynō, "strew, sprinkle" and ''-logy'') or of "particles that are strewn". A classic palynologist analyses particulate samples collected from the air, from water, or from deposits ...
, suggests a picture of a
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
woodland with areas of fen carr and
aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...
s growing in a
maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...
environment of tidal sediments. With evidence showing a preponderance of
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
and
alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
, with
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
,
elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
and
hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...
also present; members of the galingale,
buttercup ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed in Europe, ...
and
nettle {{redirect, Nettle Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus ''Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" include ...
families point to
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...
or
reedswamp A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...
environments, while water-starwort,
water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a Serial imagery, series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionism, Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his Fondation Monet in Giverny, flower garden at Fond ...
and
bulrush Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **''Scirpus'' **'' Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **''Scirpoides'' **''Isolepis'' **''Schoenoplectus'' **''Trichophorum'' *Typhacea ...
es are among the aquatic plants present. Other
Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in ...
sites in Norfolk include: *
Whitlingham Whitlingham is a small churchless parish and hamlet at the mouth of the River Wensum in Norfolk, England. It is located 3 miles (5 km) east of Norwich, on the south bank of the River Yare, reached from Trowse along Whitlingham Lane. Church ...
: **worked flint, **tool, **cleaver, **axe, **collection of Lower Palaeolithic flint implements, including three flint cleavers and five flint handaxes * Keswick: **axe, **flint, **
Acheulian Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...
type flint
hand-axe A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually flint or ch ...
, **Early
Wolstonian Stage The Wolstonian Stage is a middle Pleistocene stage of the geological history of Earth from approximately 374,000 until 130,000 years ago. It precedes the Eemian Stage in Europe and follows the Hoxnian Stage in the British Isles. It is also appro ...
, side scraper found with flint at the gravel pit near Keswick Mill in 1957 *
South Acre South Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village has almost disappeared, but the remnants are located about south-west of Castle Acre, north of the town of Swaffham, east of the town of King's Lynn and ...
: **axe, **worked flint, ** flint Levallois type
hand-axe A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually flint or ch ...
, missing its tip, found with a Neolithic flint industry at South Acre, **
Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in ...
lithic core In archaeology, a lithic core is a distinctive artifact that results from the practice of lithic reduction. In this sense, a core is the scarred nucleus resulting from the detachment of one or more flakes from a lump of source material or tool ...
of
Clactonian The Clactonian is the name given by archaeologists to an industry of European flint tool manufacture that dates to the early part of the interglacial period known as the Hoxnian, the Mindel-Riss or the Holstein stages (c. 400,000 years ago). Clac ...
type and a **side
scraper Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...
made on a flake, found at South Acre between 1935 and 1939 *
Runton Runton is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk consisting of the villages of East Runton and West Runton. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,633 in 784 households at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census, the populat ...
: **broken tip of a thin pointed
Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in ...
handaxe There is little evidence of human occupation during the subsequent Ipswichian Stage between around 180,000 and 70,000 years ago, lead.


Middle Palaeolithic

Roughly 60,000 years age to 30,000 years ago. Well-preserved in-situ
Middle Palaeolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...
open-air sites are exceedingly rare in Europe and very unusual within a British context. * Lynford Quarry,
Mundford Mundford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated at the intersection of two major routes, the A134 Colchester to King's Lynn road and the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, about north west of Thetford. ...
: 60,000 years ago Homo neanderthalensis (
Neanderthals Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
) In-situ mammoth remains and associated
Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
stone tools and
debitage In archaeology, debitage is all the material produced during the process of lithic reduction – the production of stone tools and weapons by knapping stone. This assemblage may include the different kinds of lithic flakes and lithic blades, b ...
. The artefactual, faunal, and environmental evidence were sealed, in-situ, within a Middle Devensian palaeochannel with a dark organic fill. Forty-four pristine Mousterian flint handaxes, the remains of at least nine
Mammuthus primigenius The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus subp ...
(woolly mammoths). The assemblage. Some 590 worked flint artefacts consisting of number of handaxes (pointed, subcordiform, cordiform, ovate and bout coupé forms), three cores and a number of retouched, utilised and waste flakes were individually recorded with over 1,000 pieces of microdebitage recovered from the 0.50 m2 spit units. A number of the handaxes and flakes were found in direct association with bones and/or tusks. The artefacts are generally fresh and relatively sharp with minimal abrasion or post-depositional edge damage. Typologically the assemblage falls within the Mousterian of
Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...
Tradition (MTA) facies of the Middle Palaeolithic. The Fauna, flora and environmental evidence. In total, some 2,079 bones, tusks, antlers, and teeth of
Mammuthus primigenius The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus subp ...
(mammoth), Coelodonta antiquitatis (woolly rhinoceros), Rangifer tarandus (reindeer),
Equus ferus The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...
(wild horse),
Bison priscus The steppe bisonSeveral literatures address the species as ''primeval bison''. or steppe wisent (''Bison'' ''priscus'')
– Y ...
(bison),
Canis lupus The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
(wolf),
Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
or
Alopex lagopus The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Tundra#Arctic tundra, Arctic tundra biome. It is well a ...
(red or Arctic fox), and
Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...
(brown bear) were individually recorded and a further 25,000 bone, tooth, and tusk fragments recovered.
Feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
of scavengers (possibly the spotted hyena
Crocuta crocuta The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...
) were also recovered from the organic sediments. No articulated skeletons were found. The bone varied in condition with some bones extensively weathered and others exhibiting traces of gnawing by predator-scavengers. Bone fractures characteristic of marrow extraction by hominids have been identified on some of the reindeer and horse bones recovered from the deposit. The faunal remains recovered from the palaeochannel are typical of the Pin Hole Mammal Assemblage Zone of the Middle Devensian. Through archaeo-environmental analysis, 150 species of insect have been identified. These indicate the presence of standing water, marsh, bare sand and grass. Dung and carcass beetles add to the picture of giant rotting mammals being scavenged by hyenas and Neanderthals. The presence of sub-Arctic plants, insects and snails at this site indicates that the Neanderthals of this time lived in a climate like that of modern Scandinavia. Interpretation The mammoths appear to have been butchered but it is unclear whether these beasts were hunted, or their meat simply scavenged from corpses. The site is internationally important due to the rarity of such sites being preserved. Other sites There is little evidence from this period. Other sites within modern Norfolk include: * Little Cressingham see; Lawson, 1978: 'A Hand Axe from Little Cressingham', AJ Lawson (E Anglian Archaeology Report #8, 1978; p. 1)


Upper Palaeolithic

The
Upper Palaeolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...
period covers the end of the last glaciation Devensian Stage and the immediate post-glacial period
Flandrian The Flandrian interglacial or stage is the name given by geologists and archaeologists in the British Isles to the first, and so far only, stage of the Holocene epoch (the present geological period), covering the period from around 12,000 years ago ...
. At the beginning of this period Britain was a part of the European landmass and settlement in Norfolk was just an extension of the settlement of the
North European Plain The North European Plain (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland – North German Plain; ; pl, Nizina Środkowoeuropejska – Central European Plain; da, Nordeuropæiske Lavland and nl, Noord-Europese Laagvlakte ; French : ''Plaine d'Europe du Nor ...
, while by the end of this period it had become more or less the island that we now know. At the end of the Devensian the sea-level was about 30 m below present with most of the land becoming forested with the ameliorating climate. In the mid-9th millennium BP, with the breaching of the land bridge, East Anglia became cut off from the rest of north-west Europe. Sea levels rose rapidly and peat formation commenced in low-lying areas. Although material has been recovered from across the region dating to this period, there have been very few large scale excavations, particularly in recent years. The majority of material identified from East Anglia consists of stray artefacts with only a few known
stratified Stratification may refer to: Mathematics * Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols * Data stratification in statistics Earth sciences * Stable and unstable stratification * Stratification, or st ...
sites. Norfolk also lacks the cave sites which have proved to be so important for the preservation of sites in other areas e.g.
Kent's Cavern Kents Cavern is a cave system in Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for its archaeological and geological features. The cave system is open to the public and has been a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1952 and a Schedu ...
,
Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...
,
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
;
Creswell Crags Creswell Crags is an enclosed limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, England, near the villages of Creswell and Whitwell. The cliffs in the ravine contain several caves that were occupied during the last ice age ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
;
Gough's Cave Gough's Cave ( ) is located in Cheddar Gorge on the Mendip Hills, in Cheddar, Somerset, England. The cave is deep and is long, and contains a variety of large chambers and rock formations. It contains the Cheddar Yeo, the largest underground ...
,
Cheddar Gorge Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar, Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
. The Earlier Upper Palaeolithic is very poorly represented across the whole region although there is somewhat more known from the Later Upper Palaeolithic. Early Upper Palaeolithic Flint leaf points reported at
Heacham Heacham is a large village in West Norfolk, England, overlooking The Wash. It lies between King's Lynn, to the south, and Hunstanton, about to the north. It has been a seaside resort for over a century and a half. History There is evidence o ...
and
Feltwell Feltwell is a village which holds an RAF base 10 miles (16 km) west of Thetford, Norfolk, England, and is in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Landmarks and facilities Feltwell has the largest area of any parish in Norfolk. It is ...
but it is not certain that they are not products of the later,
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
industries which also included leaf points. List of sites *
Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. N ...
football ground. Experts believe the tools could be from the Upper Palaeolithic era, could be 12,000 years old, from 10,000 BC. * Titchwell, near Brancaster, is a beach site exposed only at very low tides which has yielded a large collection of Late Up Palaeo flints and is clearly a near-intact land surface, suffering slow erosion. (J J Wymer and P A Robins 1994) *
Hockwold cum Wilton Hockwold cum Wilton (''"Hock/mallow wood and willow-tree farm/settlement"'') is 10 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk, England and is in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. It is located near several USAF airbases, notably RAF Lakenheath a ...
evidence of long blade industries (Healy 1996, 53) *
Methwold Methwold ("Middle forest") is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, on the edge of the Norfolk Fens and Breckland. With an area of it is the second largest parish in Norfolk. It had a population of 1,476 in 591 household ...
evidence of long blade industries (Healy 1996, 53) Healy F., 1996 ''The Fenland Project No. 11: The Wissey Embayment: evidence for pre-Iron Age occupation accumulated prior to the Fenland Project'', E. Anglian Archaeol. 78, 53 J J Wymer and P A Robins 1994'' A long blade flint industry beneath boreal peat at Titchwell, Norfolk '' Norfolk Archaeology, Vol XLII, part 1 In general this period is still poorly understood in Norfolk.


Mesolithic

The beginning of the
Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
corresponds with the beginning of the
Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
age in most of Europe around 10,000 years ago. Temperatures rose, probably to levels similar to those today, and forests expanded further. By 8,500 years ago, the rising sea levels caused by the melting glaciers cut Britain off from continental Europe for the last time. The warmer climate changed the Arctic environment to one of pine, birch and alder forest; this less open landscape was less conducive to the large herds of reindeer and horse that had previously sustained humans. Those animals were replaced in people's diets by less social animals such as elk, red deer and aurochs which would have required different hunting techniques in order to be effectively exploited. Tools changed to incorporate barbs which could snag the flesh of a hunted animal, making it harder for it to escape alive. Tiny
microliths A microlith is a small stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The ...
were developed for hafting onto harpoons and spears. Woodworking tools such as
adzes An adze (; alternative spelling: adz) is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing o ...
appear in the
archaeological record The archaeological record is the body of physical (not written) evidence about the past. It is one of the core concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record. Archaeological th ...
, although some flint blade types remained similar to their Palaeolithic predecessors. The dog was domesticated because of its benefits during hunting (see
Star Carr Star Carr is a Mesolithic archaeological site in North Yorkshire, England. It is around five miles () south of Scarborough. It is generally regarded as the most important and informative Mesolithic site in Great Britain. It is as important to ...
) and the wetland environments created by the warmer weather would have been a rich source of fish and game. It is likely that these environmental changes were accompanied by social changes with the groups that inhabited Britain at this time. Evidence from other parts of Britain suggests that during this period the people were becoming more settled rather than solely nomadic see Howich on the Northumbrian coast,
Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...
in East Lothian, although there is no evidence found in Norfolk to date. Sites * Titchwell has a rich site of the Late Glacial and Early Mesolithic period. The site lay beside a small stream but the then coastline was still far distant – the sea level 60 metres below its present level. * Leman and Ower Banks, 40 km off Norfolk. A barbed antler point
radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
dated to about 9800BC, dredged off the sea bed in 1931. Due to the coast being much further out than the present coast line and the barbed antler point found in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
suggests there are many more Early Mesolithic sites under the North Sea off the Norfolk coast. Other inland sites *
Kelling Heath Kelling Heath is an biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Holt and Weybourne in Norfolk. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geology Kelling Heath lies on the Cromer Ridge, a glacial moraine forme ...
. In terms of scattered flintwork over a large area, Kelling Heath is one of the richest sites of this time in Norfolk. With artefacts including cores,
blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...
s,
flake Flake or Flakes may refer to: People * Floyd H. Flake (born 1945), A.M.E. minister, university administrator, former U.S. representative * Jeff Flake (born 1962), American politician * Christian "Flake" Lorenz, German musician and member of ...
s, in all 51 Mesolithic flint objects; 3 two-platform blade cores, 3 one-platform blade cores, 1 core, 15 blades and bladelets, 29 flakes and flake fragments. Due to the intensely acid soil of this part of the
Cromer Ridge Cromer Ridge is a ridge of old glacial moraines (terminal moraine) that stands next to the coast adjacent to Cromer, Norfolk, England. Cromer Ridge seems to have been the front line of the ice sheet for some time at the last glaciation, which is s ...
nothing but the flintwork has survived. Such a high (high for Norfolk) vantage point would have allowed the Mesolithic hunters magnificent views of the wide plains that are now the North Sea, which may have been the reason for the visits, probably seasonal from generation to generation. *
Great Melton Great Melton is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 148 in 59 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 163 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within t ...
. This parish on the River Yare has revealed through excavation and fieldwalking a number of Mesolithic sites, including one of the most important Mesolithic sites in Norfolk. A site near Pockthorpe has produced over 32000 mesolithic flint artefacts, including over 18000 flakes, over 12000 blades and over 280 mircoliths. The site was probably an open camp and flint working site. In the north of the parish close to the River Yare, a large number of Mesolithic and neolithic flint artefacts have been found which may suggest the flint was mined and flints worked on the site during the two periods. (Wymer, J.J. & Robins, P.A.. 1995.) *
Spong Hill Spong Hill is an Anglo-Saxon cemetery site located south of North Elmham in Norfolk, England. It is the largest known Early Anglo-Saxon cremation site. The site consists of a large cremation cemetery and a smaller, 6th century burial cemetery of ...
. There are signs of forest clearance by burning from this site. The
Breckland Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a la ...
district seems to have been attractive to hunter-gatherers during the Late Mesolithic (c. 6000–4000 BC). This may be due to its proximity to the fen-edge and
salt marshes A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
, which were rich in
wildfowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...
, and
eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s. The lighter soils of Breckland, lighter than on the claylands to the north, would have resulted in the wildwoods being less dense thus enabling easier hunting of deer and other species. Two recent excavations in different parts of Thetford are: * Redcastle Furze near
Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...
, Mesolithic flintworking site * Two Mile Bottom near
Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...
, Mesolithic flintworking site
Microliths A microlith is a small stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The ...
have frequently been found in the Brecks, including along the Little Ouse Valley, and around the edges of the meres (small lakes). The heavier
boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists ...
of the Norfolk till plain has a site that has produced more flint tranchet axes than any other in
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
* Banham Wymer, J.J. & Robins, P.A.. 1995. A Mesolithic Site at Great Melton IN Norfolk Archaeology. Vol. XLII, pp 125–147. Vol. XLII, p. 125ff.


Neolithic

The
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period, 4000-2500BC, has produced a larger archaeological record than the previous prehistoric periods due to their impact and changing their surroundings that the Neolithic peoples had on the landscape, from industrial to maybe religious needs. By the time of the Neolithic Norfolk, like the rest of Britain, was cut off from mainland Europe by the North Sea and the
English channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. Norfolk has revealed important information concerning this period in British history. Neolithic communities seem to have preferred Norfolk's light soils and well-drained river valley tracts, rather than the heavily wooded central claylands, although these were probably occupied to some extent and also exploited for hunting and foraging. Excavation results indicate that the woodland was dominated by oak and pine, see
Broome Heath Broome Heath is a Local Nature Reserve in Ditchingham in Norfolk. It is owned by South Norfolk District Council and managed by the Broads Authority. An area in the north is designated a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest as Broome ...
and
Colney Colney () is a village in the western outskirts of Norwich in the English county of Norfolk. History Colney's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for 'Cola's' island. Colney is listed in the Domesday Book as a settl ...
. The fertile Rich
Loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...
region of north and east Norfolk, with its
loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
-rich soils, may have been especially congenial, and the number of possible monuments here is striking. Neolithic settlements *
Broome Heath Broome Heath is a Local Nature Reserve in Ditchingham in Norfolk. It is owned by South Norfolk District Council and managed by the Broads Authority. An area in the north is designated a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest as Broome ...
The Broome Heath earthwork formed part of a monument complex which seems to have developed over some time, with a
long barrow Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...
and
round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...
constructed north-east of the northern terminal of the C-sharped enclosure, and a round barrow south-east of the southern terminal. * Kilverstone,
Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...
, 226 earlier Neolithic pits interprecated as temporary occupation site (Garrow et-al 2005). Duncan Garrow, Emma Beadsmoore & Mark Knight. 2005. ''Pit Clusters and the Temporality of Occupation: an Earlier Neolithic Site at Kilverstone, Thetford, Norfolk''. In VOLUME 71, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society Causewayed enclosures All of the Norfolk
Causewayed enclosure A causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. It is an enclosure marked out by ditches and banks, with a number of causeways crossing the ditches. More than 100 examples are recorded in ...
sites appear to be approximately circular, defined by relatively narrow ditches and pit sections, interspersed with narrow causeways. These enclosures are generally defined by single ditches, however the recently published plot of Roughton (Oswald et al., 2001: fig. 6.7), has identified a second, more ephemeral, inner ditch or feature. The three possible Norfolk examples are relatively small and have a marked circularity in comparison to many other causewayed enclosure sites in England *
Buxton with Lammas Buxton with Lamas is a civil parish in Broadland in the English county of Norfolk. It comprises the villages of Buxton lying to the west of the River Bure and Lamas on the eastern side of the river. At this point the River Bure is crossed by the ...
*
Roughton Roughton, as a person, may refer to: *Roughton "Rou" Reynolds, English musician in the post hardcore band Enter Shikari *Julian Roughton, the current Chief Executive of Suffolk Wildlife Trust Roughton, as a place, may refer to: *Roughton, Linco ...
see *
Salthouse Salthouse is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the salt marshes of North Norfolk. It is north of Holt, west of Sheringham and north of Norwich. The village is on the A149 coast road between ...
in north-east Norfolk. The monument is approximately circular, with a diameter of 60 metres. The circuit appears to be divided into at least seven separate lengths of ditch, although there is a larger gap to the north where a further two stretches of ditch may be obscured. The enclosure lies at a height of 50 metres OD on a south facing slope. The location overlooks the areas to the East, South and West but is topographically situated slightly downslope from the higher ground to the immediate north. The way in which they were used is not fully understood, but they may have been a meeting point for small, dispersed groups of people living in the surrounding area, a place where the exchange of goods, ritual feasting and other ceremonial activities might have taken place. All three enclosures, the only sites of this type known from the county, are notable for their small size and circular shape. In national terms their morphology is rather anomalous, a characteristic which can be interpreted in a number of ways. It has been suggested that they may have more in common with hengiform monuments of the later Neolithic and early Bronze Age than with 'normal' causewayed enclosures of the fourth millennium BC. Alternatively, they might represent a regional tradition distinct to this part of the country. In addition, the geographical distribution of the sites is confined to north-east Norfolk. While some allowance can be made for the usual factors associated with the distribution of
cropmark Cropmarks or crop marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform. Such marks, along with parch marks, soil marks an ...
sites (soils, geology, etc.), at present it seems that the clustering of the three sites in the north-east of the county may be of archaeological significance. The smaller dimensions of the Norfolk sites may be a reflection of the size and dispersal of the communities creating, maintaining and using them and it may not be necessary to assume that they occurred later than elsewhere in Britain. Although at present no excavation has taken place on any of the Norfolk 'causewayed' enclosures so these questions have yet to be answered.


References

*Oswald, A., Dyer, C, and Barber, M. 2001. ''The Creation of Monuments: Neolithic Causewayed Enclosures in the British Isles''. Swindon: English Heritage Henge sites * Arminghall Henge A small henge at Arminghall in Norfolk which also enclosed a ring of posts has a diameter of only 30 metres. It lies near the junction of the rivers Yare and Tas, less than 4 km south of the centre of Norwich. Two circular ring ditches, the outer one 1.5 m deep and the inner one 2.3 m deep, with indications of a bank that once stood between them. In the centre stood eight massive posts, almost 1 m in diameter. The site dates to the Neolithic, with a
radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
date of 3650–2650 Cal BC (4440±150) from charcoal from a post-pit. The henge is orientated on the mid-winter sunset. * Markshall Another possible example, which has never seen excavation, has been recorded on the opposite side of the River Tas by aerial photography at Markshall (Wade-Martin 1999, plate 22). *
Costessey Costessey ( ) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish centred boxing the compass, WNW of Norwich in Norfolk, England. Three dispersed village, centres of population exist: the long-established town/village of Costessey (now commonly Old C ...
An undated circular enclosure is located in pasture, close to the confluence of the Rivers Tud and Wensum. It comprises a circular bank, with an internal diameter of about 30 m, and a circular ditch outside it. It has been suggested that it may be comparable to the Neolithic henge at Arminghall. (Robertson, D. 2005.)


References

*Beex, W., Peterson, J 2004. 'The Arminghall henge in space and time: how virtual reality contributes to research on its orientation'. In nter the PastThe E-way into the four dimensions of Cultural Heritage, CAA2003, BAR International Series 1227, pp. 490–493, Oxford. *Clark, J.D.G., 1936 'The Timber Monument at Arminghall and its Affinities', Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2, 1–51 *Robertson, D. (NLA), 2005. *Wade-Martin, P. (ed), 1999 Norfolk from the Air II Long Barrows In Norfolk there is only rare evidence of the remains of Long Borrows, most of the remains having been ploughed flat over the years. * Broome Heath, Ditchingham A Neolithic burial mound or long barrow, about 50m long and 25m wide. Human remains were found in the 19th century, but these were probably a later insertion. Neolithic flints and pottery fragments have been found over the years, often being excavated by rabbits. The barrow, as well as being used for burial, may also have had ceremonial uses. * Harpley Common This Neolithic long barrow is visible as an oval mound 1.2m high and 31m long by 23m wide. This is part of a larger mound that has been destroyed by ploughing and the construction of the Harpley to Weasenham St Peter road. The mound is surrounded by a ditch about 4.5m wide. The ditch is now infilled. *
Felthorpe Felthorpe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located east of Dereham and north-west of Norwich. History Felthorpe's name is of mixed Anglo-Saxon and Viking origin and derives from an amalgamation of ...
This is a possible Neolithic long barrow, which survives as an earthwork mound. *
Roughton Roughton, as a person, may refer to: *Roughton "Rou" Reynolds, English musician in the post hardcore band Enter Shikari *Julian Roughton, the current Chief Executive of Suffolk Wildlife Trust Roughton, as a place, may refer to: *Roughton, Linco ...
Seen as a crop mark *
Marlingford Marlingford is a village and former civil parish, west of Norwich, now in the parish of Marlingford and Colton, in the South Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 181. Features Marlingford ...
Seen as a crop mark * Tuttington Seen as a crop mark Neolithic Industry *
Grimes Graves Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex in Norfolk, England. It lies north east from Brandon, Suffolk in the East of England. It was worked between  2600 and  2300 BC, although production may have continued well int ...
is a large Neolithic flint mining complex near
Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...
close to the border between Norfolk and
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
.A recent survey by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
found that Grimes Graves was one of only ten Neolithic flint mines known in England, of which only six survive as earthworks. Dating from roughly 3000–2000 BC, mining began at the site during the later Neolithic and continued for a while into the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. The
Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
believed the site was the work of the god Grim – (possibly a euphemism for Woden,) -the place-name means 'Grim's quarries'. The available
radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
dates suggest that mining may have taken place over a period of between 500 and 1,000 years. It extends over an area of around 37 ha (0.37 km2 / 96 acres) and consists of at least 433 shafts dug into the natural chalk to reach seams of flint. The deepest shafts are more than 12 m (40 feet) deep and the widest is around 18 m (60 ft,) in diameter at the surface. It has been calculated that more than 2,000 tonnes of chalk had to be removed from the larger shafts, taking 20 people around five or six 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 seam (floorstone,) which most interested the miners. The mines were sunk at a rate of one every one or two years. Although recent research has suggested that small groups of mines may have been dug simultaneously. Mining was however neither intensive, nor on an 'industrial' scale, as we understand the term today. The geology at Grimes Graves comprises a number of flint layers lying below sands and clays and interspersed between chalk. It was the upper three seams of flint which were exploited, and the lowest of the three, known as 'floorstone', was generally targeted because it was in larger tabular nodules, it was easily flaked, less flawed than flint from the other layers, and had a lustrous deep black colour. To get to the flint the Neolithic miners dug shafts up to 12 m deep with radiating galleries at their base, as well as shallower pits from 3 m to 8 m deep. Some mines are grouped together with two or three in a single quarry, implying that some were dug in sequence. *
Whitlingham Whitlingham is a small churchless parish and hamlet at the mouth of the River Wensum in Norfolk, England. It is located 3 miles (5 km) east of Norwich, on the south bank of the River Yare, reached from Trowse along Whitlingham Lane. Church ...
Evidence has been found in the area of a Neolithic flint axe factory, including unfinished axes and waste flakes. In the 18th century a human skeleton, together with the picks made from deer's antlers, were found in one of the chalk tunnels – possibly the body of one of the Neolithic flint miners.


Bibliography

* Ashwin, T. 1996. Neolithic and Bronze Age Norfolk. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 62, 41–62 * Piggott, S., (1986) 'Early British craftsmen' ''Antiquity'' LX No 230, pp. 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, * 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, * Wainwright, G.J. 1972. ''The excavation of a Neolithic settlement on Broome Heath,
Ditchingham Ditchingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located across the River Waveney from Bungay, Suffolk.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. . History Ditchingham's name is of Anglo-S ...
, Norfolk, England''. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 38, 1–97. * Healy, F. (1984) 'Farming and field monuments: the Neolithic in Norfolk', in Barringer, C. (ed.) Aspects of East Anglian Prehistory (Twenty Years after Rainbird Clarke). Norwich: Geo Books: 77–140. * Wymer, J.J. & Robins, P.A.. 1995. A Mesolithic Site at Great Melton IN Norfolk Archaeology. Vol. XLII, pp 125–147. Vol. XLII, p. 125ff. * Clarke, J. G. D. & Fell, C. I., (1953) 'The Early Iron Age Site at Micklemoor Hill West Harling, Norfolk, and its Pottery' Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 19 part 1 pp 1–40 * Clarke, J. D. G., (1936) 'The Timber Monument at Arminghall, and its Affinities' Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 2 part 1 pp 1–51 * Healy, F. M., (1988) The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Spong Hill, North Elmham, Part VI: Occupation during the Seventh to Second Millennia BC, East Anglian Archaeology 39, Norfolk Museums Service * Lawson, A. J., (1983) The Archaeology of Witton, East Anglian Archaeology 18, Norfolk Museums Service * Sainty, J. E., (1924) 'A flaking site on Kelling Heath, Norfolk' PSEA 4 pp 165–176 * Sainty, J. E., (1925) 'The Kelling flaking site' PSEA 5 pp 283–287 * Sainty, J. E., (1947) 'Mesolithic sites in Norfolk' in Norfolk Archaeology 28 pp 234–237 * Wade-Martins, P., Ed., (1993) An Historical Atlas of Norfolk, Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service * Wainwright, G. J., (1972) 'The Excavation of a Neolithic Settlement on Broome Heath, Ditchingham, Norfolk' PPS 38 pp 1–97 * Wainwright, G. J., (1973) 'The Excavation of Prehistoric and Romano-British Settlements at Eaton Heath, Norwich' Arch J 130 pp 1–43 * Williamson, T., (1993) The Origins of Norfolk, Manchester University Press * Wymer, J., (1991) Mesolithic Britain, Shire Archaeology


References

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External links


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History of Norfolk Prehistoric Britain