Paper short abstract:

A review of flint mine excavation archives has uncovered previously unrecognised similarities in art marks in chalk, from Neolithic sites across northern Europe. This paper discusses the similarities and suggests this unique style of art may indicate shared understandings and activity-specific art.

Paper long abstract:

Recent archival research has discovered new forms of Neolithic art from flint mining sites, with similarities noted between Britain, Belgium and Denmark. Flint mining by the shaft and gallery method (dated to c. 4000-2000 cal BC) created complicated underground architecture, consisting of vertical shafts up to 16m deep and horizontal galleries carved out of the chalk bedrock. Historically, flint mines were thought to have been industrial sites where large quantities of flint were extracted for the manufacture of stone axes and other implements. Flint was certainly extracted in large quantities although other cultural activities, such as human burial, also took place within them. Abstract art marks, scratched into the walls of the mines, and on blocks of chalk within the mines, were initially discovered during excavations at Cissbury Neolithic flint mine in the 1870s, with parallels noted at other sites. However the art was not fully described, did not fit into contemporary dialogues of the time and has only limited affinities with other forms of Neolithic art styles such as rock art and pottery. The rediscovery of these images and new unrecorded examples during archival study, indicates that there was a greater ritual significance to flint mining than previously thought. This may have been particularly associated with mining activities. The similarities in the art across wide regions suggest both more extensive European contacts and connections during this time and shared cultural understandings. This paper will discuss the images and potential significance of site or activity-specific art in Neolithic Europe.