Stig of the Dump

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Stig of the Dump is a children's novel by Clive King written in 1963. It was adapted for television, firstly by Thames Television for ITV in 1981 and later by the BBC in 2002. Topologika Software Ltd has published an adventure game (Windows 95-Vista and Mac to OS 9/Classic) based on the first three chapters of the book.

Stig of the Dump (1963). 1971 Puffin paperback edition. 157 pages

Stig is a caveman who lives at the bottom of the old quarry close to Barney's grandmother's house. Since the quarry is no longer in use, people throw all their rubbish away down there.

Barney finds Stig by falling through the roof of Stig's den. Barney and Stig become friends, even though they cannot talk to each other. Stig and Barney have a series of adventures together, including catching burglars breaking into Barney's grandmother's house. One night Barney and his sister Lou cannot sleep and get transported back to Stig's time where they spend a night helping his tribe complete a megalith. This may refer to Kit's Coty House, a barrow on the North Downs near Bluebell Hill in Kent, where King lived as a child.

The book is intentionally ambiguous as to whether Stig is real, or just a figment of Barney's imagination.

Stig means "path" in Swedish and Danish; the name indicates that a person is a pathfinder.^{[citation needed]}

'Stig' has become a pejorative term, especially in Liverpool, for a scruffy or miserly person.^{[citation needed]}