evidence of the circumstances of their finding, and the means at our command for ascertaining their degree of antiquity.
That they really are implements fashioned by the hand of man, a single glance at a collection of them placed side by side, so as to show the analogy of form of the various specimens, would, I think, be sufficient to convince even the most sceptical. There is a uniformity of shape, a correctness of outline, and a sharpness about the cutting edges and points, which cannot be due to anything but design;[1] so that I need not stay to combat the opinion that might otherwise possibly have arisen that the weapon-like shapes of the flints were due to some natural configuration, or arose from some inherent tendency to a peculiar form of fracture. A glance at the Plates will suffice to satisfy upon this point those who have not had an opportunity of examining the implements themselves.
The material of which they have been formed, flint derived from the chalk, is the same as has been employed for the manufacture of cutting implements by uncivilized man in all ages, in countries where flint is to be found. Its hardness, and the readiness with which it may be fractured so as to present a cutting edge, have made it to be much in request among savage tribes for this purpose; and in some instances[2] flint appears to have been brought from a distance when not found upon the spot. There is therefore nothing to distinguish these implements from the drift, as far as material is concerned, from those which have been called celts, except, perhaps, that the flints have not been selected with such care, nor are they so free from flaws as those from which the ordinary flint weapons of the Stone period were fashioned. There is, however, this to be remarked, that the aboriginal tribes of the Stone period made use of other stones besides flint, such as greenstone, syenite, porphyry, clay-slate, jade, &c., whereas the weapons from the drift are, as far as has hitherto been ascertained, exclusively of flint. As to form, the implements from the drift may, for convenience sake, be classed under three heads, though there is so much variety among them that the classes, especially the second and third, may be said to blend or run one into the other. The classification I propose is as follows—
- ↑ Since the publication of the report of this Paper in the Athenæum, there has been some correspondence in that and other journals upon the question whether these implements were of human or natural origin, which called forth the following expression of opinion from Professor Ramsay, a thoroughly competent judge in such a matter: "For more than twenty years, like others of my craft, I have daily handled stones, whether fashioned by nature or art, and the flint hatchets of Amiens and Abbeville seem to me as clearly works of art as any Sheffield whittle."—(Athæneum, July 16, 1859.)
- ↑ See Wilson's Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, p. 121.
