Making connections: a fresh analysis of an early neolithic pit and its contents

Outlined here is a new and detailed assessment of two Early Neolithic pits discovered in 1933 by Dr. E.C. Curwen on New Barn Down, Worthing. Newly obtained radiocarbon dates that place the pits between 4000–3800 BC make them amongst the earliest Neolithic features in Sussex and southern England. It is proposed that the pits (collectively known as Pit X) display connections not only to the nearby flint mines, but also to the immediate coastal zone and to wider England. The examination illuminates the practices of an Early Neolithic community, who were not only extracting flint from the nearby mines, but also familiar with new forms of material culture and social customs.