Cissbury Ring

Cissbury Ring is an 84.2-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Worthing in West Sussex [1]. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated a Scheduled monument for its Neolithic flint mine and Iron Age hillfort [1]. The earthworks that form the fortifications were built around the beginning of the Middle Iron-Age possibly around 250 BC but abandoned in the period 50 BC - 50 AD [1]. The site of the fort contains a Neolithic mine, one of the first flint mines in Britain [1]. Around 270 shafts were dug into Cissbury hill over around 300 years of use [1]. Shafts were up to 12 metres deep with 7 metres diameters at the surface [1]. Up to eight galleries extended outwards from the bottoms of the shafts, often interconnecting with one another [1]. The shafts at Cissbury were excavated with antler picks, much like those at Grimes Graves and elsewhere [1].