A field in the heathland near Thetford in Norfolk looks like
a grassy equivalent of the surface of the moon, with many shallow depressions giving
the landscape a pockmarked appearance.
However, this area has not been subject to bombardment by
meteorites. Instead, it is a very early example of an industrial landscape, the
industry in question being flint mining in Neolithic times, at around the time
that Stonehenge was being built.
Miners used deer antlers as picks to dig vertical shafts
that were up to 40 feet deep. They were searching for pieces of flint that could
then be shaped, chiselled and polished to produce axes and knife blades.
Although flint was easy to find on the surface, being a type of quartz that is
commonly found in chalk and limestone rocks, this was subject to weakening
through regular freezing and thawing. Harder flints were available underground,
hence the need to mine for them.
When a pit was exhausted, the spoil that had been dug from
it was used as refill material. This would later settle down to form a
depression in the ground. It can therefore be seen that more than 400 pits were
dug in this area, which covers some 34 acres, during a period of around 1,000
years.
The site is now in the care of English Heritage, and visitors
will be most interested in the single pit that has been re-opened and which
they can descend to see exactly how the flint miners worked. Short galleries were
dug off a central “hub” to reach the best flints. These were held hauled to the
surface in baskets.
The name “Grimes Graves” dates from Saxon times, when the
real purpose of the site was unknown. Grim was another name for the god Odin,
and the depressions might easily have been imagined as the burial places of
giants.
© John Welford
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