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Cissbury Ring is the largest hill fort in Sussex, the second largest in England. At 60 acres, or 24 hectares. It is one of the largest in Europe overall. The earthworks that form the fortifications were built around the beginning of the areas middle iron age. Possibly around 250 BC. They were abandoned not long there after

Long before the hill was fortified. Flint mines were being dug and excavated in the area
These shafts went down as far as 12 meters (40 feet). Much like the Grimes graves in England, and Polish, Belgium flint mines. The shafts were ahead of there time

During the neolithic period. Cissbury ring was excavated with antler picks, stone and wood tools
They mined flint. It was the common material for making stone axes, felling timber and working on wood.

The site was one of the first major neolithic flint mines in Britain. It was exploited throughout the neolithic period (the nearby Harrow hill neolithic flint mine series of flint mines is slightly older). And, it is part of a group of flint mines in Sussex. They followed a rich seam of flint-bearing chalk. Other examples are Grimes Graves in Norfolk.

Cissbury was one of the important mining industries in the UK during the neolithic era. Struck from giant cores, the axes and blades, account for most of the tools produced at Cissbury
Examples of Cissbury flint can be found as far as Italy. Axes were produced on site, as rough-outs, and then could be used, or traded. Many other types of stone were in demand such as the greenstone. It was from the Langdale area of the lake district.

Later on, during the next few millennia, flint may have been used. It was used for cannons and other weaponry

The Cissbury rings tools were essential for forestry, mining, farming and for survival. Earning it, an important relationship from the neolithic era in Britain.

Bibliography: Cissbury Ring | Sussex. (n.d.). National Trust. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/cissbury-ring

Historic England. “Cissbury Ring hillfort, prehistoric flint mine and associated remains (1015817)”. National Heritage List for England. Retrieved March 2022

Thompson, M. W. (1977). General Pitt-Rivers: evolution and archaeology in the nineteenth century. Bradford-on-Avon: Moonraker Press. ISBN0-239-00162-1.