Windover Long Mound forum 1 room
Image by Cursuswalker
close
more_vert

Sorry, I've just realised I didn't tell you what “The Wilmington Giant” says about the flint mines.

Castleden writes about them under the assumption of a Neolithic origin. On page 132 he comments that most Neolithic flint mining occured in the "flint-rich Actinocamax quadratus zone of the chalk", about one third of the way down the scarp slope, whereas on Windover Hill they worked the "Micraster" zone. This also, he says, seems to be the only place where the principle escarpment of the Downs was worked.

He speculates that this might have been due to the significance of THAT hilltop. One could also say that it might imply a lack of Neolithic expertise of course.

In my web wanderings about this the other day I found a flint knapping site. Apparently the nodules arn't big enough to make into a handaxe, you need to get to where the flint becomes a sheet, hence why they dug down so far at Grimes Graves. Now I've no idea of the geology of the hill, but I'm presuming there is sheet flint* on the hill else why would there be mines at all...

Oh and I'll be back that way tomorrow sometime around midday after I finish off Kent, so I'm gonna 'walk' the cursus!