ÉPUISÉ - Flint Mines in Neolithic Britain, 2000, 176 ill. coul. et n.b., rel. -

Monuments represent the major defining element in our understanding of the Neolithic period. But, although much has been written about Neolithic enclosures and long mounds, there has been little discussion about the third form of early monument : the flint mine. Drawing on 19th-century antiquarian investigations, unpublished excavation archives and recent fieldwork and excavation, M. Russell has produced the first full account of the subject. In particular, he balances his treatment of the well-preserved sequence of deposits at Grimes Graves in Norfolk with a full evaluation of the lesser known Sussex and Wessex mines. In bringing the Neolithic flint mines of Britain centre stage for the first time, Dr Russell addresses a number of important questions: What were the mine sites? What did they mean to the people who created them? How did they relate to the other monuments being built at the same time? Where were they originally dug? What form did they take? What was extracted from them? What would it have been like to work in them? How were they first discovered and interpreted? The work concludes with an annotated list of those sites that can be visited today.