themselves from above by the force of gravity. Here however, again, I cannot do better than quote from the writer in Blackwood, "that a few minutes' inspection of the beds containing and overlying the flint implements of the Somme will assure any observer that they are entirely destitute of the imagined crevices, and are moreover altogether too compact and immoveable to admit of any such insinuation or percolation of surface objects."
Taking all these circumstances into consideration, it cannot be doubted that the flint implements really belong to the same age as the sands and gravels in which they occur.
Perhaps the most striking peculiarity of these weapons is, that they are never polished, not a single specimen having presented a trace of grinding; while, on the other hand, the implements of the later stone period, those which occur in burial-places, river beds, &c., are always carefully polished.
As regards their form, they are grouped by Mr. Evans under three heads:
"1. Flint flakes, apparently intended for arrowheads, or knives."
"2. Pointed weapons, analogous to lance or spear heads."
"3. Oval or almond-shaped implements, presenting a cutting edge all round."
The flakes offer no special peculiarities. The mode of their manufacture has already been described and illustrated (Nat. Hist. Rev. Oct. 1861),[1] and similar articles have been used by savages in all ages and countries, where flint or obsidian was obtainable.
The implements of the other two forms, which, however, pass almost imperceptibly into one another, are on the contrary quite unlike any of those belonging to the last or polished stone-period. The nearest approach to them is made by the small and rude implements found in the Danish Kjökkenmöddings,[2] but these again have a peculiar form, and would be at once distinguished by any experienced observer. During my last visit to Abbeville, I was much interested by finding, in the museum of M. Boucher de Perthes, a few small hatchets, which, both in shape and size, very closely resembled those which are found in the Danish Kjökkenmöddings, but all of these belonged to the later or post-elephantine period. It is, I think, probable that similar axes will be found in other countries, but that they have generally escaped notice hitherto on account of their rudeness.
Up to the present time no bones of men have been found in the strata containing the flint implements. This, though it has appeared to some so inexplicable as to throw a doubt on the whole question, is, on consideration, less extraordinary than it might at first sight appear to be. If, for instance, we turn to other remains of human settlements, we shall find a repetition of the same phenomenon. Thus
- ↑ See also Sir E. Belcher, British Ass. T. 1860, p. 154, and Mr. Tyler's "Anahuac," p. 331.
- ↑ Nat. Hist. Review, Vol. 1, Pl. VII. figs 8 and 9.
