Percy Sladen Memorial Fund Excavations. Grimes' Graves, Norfolk, 1924

Abstract

The excavations described in the Preliminary Report were, through the generosity of the Trustees of the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund, and with the co-operation of Dr. R. V. Favell, resumed in 1924 and further efforts made to discover evidence of the earliest mining activities at Grimes' Graves. Summarised briefly the work of 1923 had already established the following facts:—(1) The existence on the southern slope of the valley, north of the Graves, of primitive flint mines roughly circular in shape and sunk to the Floor-stone, at that point 12 feet 6 inches deep.(2) That the two pits examined were devoid of galleries, the shafts being belled out at the base to obtain as much flint as possible.(3) That Hand Picks of a form not hitherto recognised and formed of the long bones of animals, had been used for excavation purposes assisted by wedges and choppers of flint.(4) That Deer-antler picks, or fragments of deer antler were entirely absent.(5) That access had been gained to the pits by rude staircases cut in the shaft walls.(6) The nature of the valley deposits was established by a series of sections and the almost complete erosion there of the Floor-stone, by glacial agencies, proved.(7) The limits within which Floor-stone exists in situ on the south side of the valley was defined and an outcrop of contorted Floor-stone discovered.