It should have dawned on me years ago, but I have just realised that I live not so far from what are probably the oldest archaeologically investigated mining sites in Britain. If you search UK Mines/locations by mineral = flint, you will see what I mean. These were not all just shallow pits in the surface, but up to 12 metre deep shafts dug by hand using antlers! And hundreds of them too. I was also disappointed to find that at least two of the sites have been completely ploughed away or deliberately bulldozed, albeit not recently. Not only are they extremely old, they make Grimes Graves look like a youngster by comparison.