Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/134

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126
PREHISTORIC BRITAIN

now in progress for the foundations of a building in St. Heller, the strata as above described have been cut through and in the blue clay beneath the forest bed (which here is eight feet thick) were found Neolithic implements as follows."

After describing a number of worked objects which he considers Neolithic implements, Mr. Sinel goes on to write: "In the same stratum as these, and in a layer of yellow clay which lies beneath, flint implements of decided Chellian, Acheulian and Mousterian types are frequent, but the relics above specified are clearly and decidedly Neolithic.

"As the portion of the forest-bed at this spot must represent the vegetation that first fringed the land as it recovered from the depression of glacial times, and these relics lie beneath it, we cannot but conclude that the Neolithic races date from a period far more remote than has usually been assigned to them, and that they must, in fact, date back nearly into the last glacial period."

In reply to the above, Mr. A. L. Leach, London, writes as follows (October 3):

"The letter of Mr. J. Sinel, in Nature, September 19, on the submerged forest-bed in Jersey, deals with several questions of great interest in relation to the submerged forest on the south-western coast of Wales. I hope to publish shortly an account of this forest-bed (so far as it is seen in Pembrokeshire) and the