EARLY MAN
AMONG the various counties of England probably there is none which has furnished a more complete and representative series of prehistoric remains than Kent. Every one of the different ages into which antiquities divide the pre-historic period is represented among the antiquities of Kent, and in some cases discoveries of exceptional importance have been made within the borders of the county.
There is perhaps no large part of England which has been more carefully or more successfully studied by antiquaries. The result is that many important observations and discoveries have been placed upon record; and in attempting to give a brief but comprehensive sketch of them, it seems desirable to follow the plan adopted in the case of other counties, employing the following main divisions: — (1) Palæolithic Age; (2) Neolithic Age; (3) Bronze Age; (4) Prehistoric Iron Age.
The Palæolithic Age
The stage in human culture known as the Stone Age has been divided by archæologists and anthropologists into two somewhat sharply defined sections, viz. the Palæolithic Age and the Neolithic Age. There is every reason to think that these two ages were separated by a long interval of time, during which either man did not exist in this part of Europe or the evidence of his presence has perished.
Our knowledge of the Palæolithic Age is derived mainly from stone implements, articles of bone, etc. Certain rude sketches scratched on bones and stones have been found on the Continent of Europe, and these suggest that the men of this earlier Stone Age possessed a much higher degree of artistic culture than one would have been prepared to expect. It is a remarkable fact that although man was able at such an early stage to sketch the mammoth and other animals from life in such a way that the likeness can now be recognized, he had not acquired the art of shaping weapons or implements of flint by means of grinding or rubbing. Indeed, it is a characteristic mark of palæolithic implements of flint that the shaping has always been produced by chipping, and sometimes, of course, the forms have been modified by wear and the re-sharpenings by chipping which thereupon became necessary. This applies specially to implements formed of flint, but it is impossible to say how far it is true of other materials, or even other kinds of stone, because the character of the weathering and method of disintegration vary according to the substance.
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