precisely similar in all its characteristics to some weapons found at Hoxne and Amiens. It is not a little singular that it too should have been found in juxtaposition with a tooth and indeed other remains of an elephant.
It is satisfactory to find these instances of the discovery of flint implements of this class placed on record so long ago, as it places beyond all reasonable doubt the fact of their being really the work of man. They have been exhibited as weapons in our Museums for many years, and their artificial character has never been doubted, nor indeed could it ever have been called in question by an unprejudiced observer.
Other instances have occurred of such implements being found in England, but the exact circumstances of their discovery have still to be investigated from a geological point of view. In Mr. Bateman's[1] Catalogue of the Antiquities in his collection, No. 787 C, of objects found in 1850, is thus entered—"Eight instruments found near Long Low, Wetton, including one very large, and like some figured in the Archæologia, Vol. XIII. p. 204." Mr. Bateman informs me that these were found near the surface, a circumstance which in no way affects the question of their antiquity. In the collection of Mr. Warren of Ixworth are also two specimens of implements of the spear-head type (one of them broken), which were found at Icklingham, Suffolk, in the gravel dug in the valley of the Lark. I have visited the spot where they were found in company with Mr. Prestwich, but owing to the hurried nature of our visit further investigation is necessary before determining this to be a conclusive instance of the implements having been discovered in undisturbed drift. There appears, however, to be nothing in the character of the drift of that district, in which also we found traces of mammalian bones, to militate against such an hypothesis.
In France, similar implements, both of the simple and more elaborate forms, have been discovered by M. Gosse in the gravel-pits of La Motte Piquet near Paris, together with the remains of the mammoth and other animals; and I must not omit to record that this very spot had been pointed out by M. de Perthes, some years ago, as one in which such a discovery was more than probable.
I have no doubt that before many years have elapsed various other instances of the finding of similar implements, under similar circumstances with those from Hoxne and from the valley of the Somme, will have been placed on record, and that the existence of man upon the earth previously to the formation of these drift deposits will be regarded by all as a recognised fact.
- ↑ Bakewell, 1855. p. 59
