Interpreting hidden chalk art in southern British Neolithic flint mines

Abstract

The Neolithic flint mines of Britain have been identified as sites of intense flint extraction. They occur chronologically in two phases: the earlier Neolithic examples in Sussex and Wessex (including the sites of Cissbury, Harrow Hill, Blackpatch, Church Hill, Easton Down, Martin's Clump, Long Down and Stoke Down) and the later Neolithic flint mine at Grimes Graves in Norfolk (Barber et al. 1999). Interpretations of prehistoric flint mines have commonly focused on the functional aspects of flint extraction: the method of extraction and quantity of flint that resulted (e.g. Mercer 1981a, 1981b; Sieveking 1979; Sieveking et al. 1973). Only recently has it been argued that prehistoric flint mines were monumental spaces and hence should be considered as monuments in their own right (Russell 2000, 2001). This paper further challenges the functional interpretation of flint mines as simple abstraction sites by discussing hidden in situ chalk art found within them. This art has wider parallels in markings discovered at other Neolithic sites and the examination of these mine and non-mine chalk examples suggests that collectively they indicate an early Neolithic art tradition that has hitherto been ignored.