I am now much happier that Pickhill was an area of importance during the Late Neolithic period. It is likely that the Thornborough cursus was built along a trade route between the Ure and Swale, and that Pickhill may represent the Swale terminus of this route. A string of Axe finds between Pickhill and the ure running parallel with the line of the cursus seems to back up this suggestion.
I would expect there to have been a permanant settlement in the viscinity of Pickhill.