He added that there was considerable difference of opinion among antiquaries to account for its greater depth.

Some believed the pit was simply a larger specimen of the adjoining hut circles, running into a natural underground passage which had previously existed.

But the more generally accepted theory was that the hut circles marked the site of a prehistoric village, and the deeper pit had been the quarry from which the Neolithic men had obtained the flints of which they made their implements.

These flints were imbedded in the chalk a long way from the surface, and to obtain them the cave men burrowed deeply into the clay, and then excavated horizontal galleries into the chalk.

Several of the red-deer antler picks which they used for the purpose had been discovered when the pit was first explored twenty-five years ago.
"Mr.Glenthorpe was very much interested in the prehistoric and late Stone Age remains which are to be found in abundance along the Norfolk coast," he added.