A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



ao-e however, a word or two may be conveniently added with regard to 

 the general characteristics of the stone implements of the two ages 

 Palaeolithic and Neolithic, and the chief points in which they differ. 



Palaeolithic implements differ from NeoHthic in several points. Not 

 only is there a much greater variety of form in the latter, but the methods 

 of manufacture present certain well-marked differences. The most im- 

 portant is this. A Paleolithic implement was formed by a few bold and 

 skilful blows, and the stone so shaped was sometimes one that had been 

 procured for the purpose from the chalk, and sometimes one of the 

 worn flints picked up from the coarse gravels of the river drift. A 

 Neolithic implement on the other hand was usually made from flint of 

 the special kind that was found to be most suitable for the purpose, and 

 shaped by many careful blows. Broadly the distinction between the 

 two methods may be said to be this : the Palaeolithic man shaped his 

 tools by primary working, whilst the Neolithic man shaped his first by 

 primary working and finished them by secondary chipping, and in some 

 instances, particularly in the case of axes or celts, by grinding the whole 

 or a portion of the surface to a cutting edge. 



Norfolk in the Neolithic Age 



The Neolithic age in Norfolk is represented by many important 

 remains. Flint implements, particularly in the form of beautifully 

 shaped arrowheads and ground or partially ground celts, personal orna- 

 ments, hut-floors, flint mines, graves and camps are the main classes into 

 which the various remains may be conveniently divided, and they enable 

 us to form a fairly complete idea of the methods of warfare, pursuits, 

 industries and arts of early man in Norfolk in the Neolithic age. 



The Neolithic age is in fact specially well represented in the 

 various prehistoric antiquities found in Norfolk. Not only are the 

 actual specimens of weapons and implements of great interest on account 

 of their varieties, but antiquaries have succeeded in identifying the 

 sites of quarries where the raw material was obtained and of the factories 

 where it was worked into shape. From what has been said already it 

 will have been evident that the maker of Neolithic implements attached 

 considerable importance to procuring the best material, and the following 

 facts about Grime's Graves will show that he took infinite pains in order 

 to procure the kind of flint that was best suited to his purpose. 



The flint mines at Grime's Graves,* situated in a wood about three 

 miles north-east of Brandon, afford some interesting and highly im- 

 portant information upon the methods adopted in Neolithic times for 

 procuring suitable flint for the manufacture of implements. The so- 

 called 'graves,' 254 in number, occupy a space upwards of 20 acres in 

 extent. They are really circular depressions in the surface of the earth 



1 Journal of Ethnological Society of London (new series), ii. pp. +19-39 ; Proceedings Society of Anti- 

 quaries of Scotland, viii. pp. 419-28 ; Evans, Ancient Stone Implements, etc., ed. 2, pp. 33, 34 ; Journal 

 Archtroloffcal Association, viii. p. 77 ; The Illustrated Archaeologist, June, 1893. 



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