THE CONGLOMERATE TRACK
27
makers were not chalk-dwellers; indeed, one of the most striking
properties of the puddingstone track is its adherence to the
gravels and its avoidance of the chalk. It is interesting to note the
relationship between the track and the two well-known prehistoric
routes of East Anglia—the Icknield and Peddar Ways (Fig. 1).
The first clings to the north-western chalk slopes of the Chilterns,
leading in an almost direct line towards the Norfolk flint-mines
until, a few miles from the Little Ouse, it breaks into several
branches and its identity is lost. The Peddar Way leads from the
Norfolk coast in a direct line almost due south, passing some miles
to the east of the flint mines, and penetrating Suffolk in the same
general direction, crossing the Stour into Essex at Stratford St.
Mary, and leading ultimately to the suburbs of Colchester. The
puddingstone track lies between these two and at no point in its
entire length crosses or touches either of them. In Norfolk, the
track and the Peddar Way run parallel and about two miles apart,
and in Suffolk the valley of the Little Ouse lies between them. In
Berkshire, the track runs parallel with Icknield Way for several
miles, with the crest of the Chiltern range between. Neither Ick-
nield nor Peddar Way can be shown conclusively to lead to
Grimes Graves, and it seems clear that whatever their function it
was not that of a flint route. We have found no evidence to show
that any prehistoric road other than the puddingstone track had
as its sole objective the famous Norfolk site, and this has led us to
conclude that the track is contemporary with the great hey-day of
the flint mines.
Unfortunately, no very conclusive arguments accurately dating
the period of the mines have been put forward, and authorities
differ considerably. The most convincing opinion, and the one
which fits in with our own observations, is that of J. G. D. Clark,
who traces the influence of the late Mesolithic period at Grimes
Graves [11]. Clark has made an exhaustive study of this shadowy
period in prehistory, and has classified the cultures responsible
for the known stations in Britain. It can hardly be a coincidence
that nearly all the known Mesolithic workshop floors in East
Anglia and the Home Counties lie upon or near the track. We
have mentioned the Thatcham station, found by Peake and
Crawford in 1920, and those at Nettlebed Common and Kimble
Farm, discovered by Peake. In addition, others have been found
by Miss Layard, in the Colne Valley, Suffolk, in 1927, at a site two
miles west of the track; and at Twomile Bottom, Thetford, by
H. N. Haward, in 1914. These circumstances suggest that the
track was the common highway between the flintmines and the
centres of the culture responsible for these Mesolithic floors.
Of the three types of Mesolithic cultures identified in Britain,
Clark ascribes to the Tardenoisian the microlithic industries