Lithic information from across the study area is variable. The best single assemblage of early Neolithic flint and chert is from recent surface collection and excavation at the Thornborough monument complex. This data, representing around 14 percent of the total collected material, possibly suggests a small increase in population or activity when compared to the Mesolithic, across the gravel terrace area around the monument complex. It consists of leaf shaped arrowheads, polished axe fragments, a sickle fragment and various forms of scraper and retouched flakes.
The only other possible early Neolithic lithics are few and come from isolated, badly provenanced finds of extremely limited and highly dubious interpretative potential. There appears to be a general distribution of Neolithic material, consisting of a few scrapers and one leaf shaped arrowhead, from across the study area, although this is obviously biased towards areas which have benefited from some archaeological fieldwork. The extensive fieldwalking at Thornborough highlights the likelihood of widespread and extensive early Neolithic material from elsewhere in the Ure-Swale Catchment, and in particular from the gravel terraces.
