LUBBOCK ON THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 249 



themselves fi-om above by tlae 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 insi- 

 " nuation 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 ofi'er no special peculiarities, Tlie mode of their 

 manufacture has already been described and illustrated (Nat. Hist. 

 Eev. Oct. 1861),* and similar articles have been used by savages in 

 aU 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 Kjokkenm6ddings,t but these again have a peculiar form, 

 and would be at once distinguished by any experienced observer. 

 During my last -sasit 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 Kjbkkenmoddings, but all of these belonged to the 

 later or post-elephantine period. It is, I think, probable that similar 

 axes will be foimd 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 tiu-n to other remains of human 

 settlements, we shall find a repetition of the same phenomenon. Thus 



• See also Sir E. Belcher, British Ass. T. I860, p. 154, and Mr. Tylor's 

 " Anahuac," p. 331. 



t Nat. Hist. Review, Vol. 1, PJ. VII. figs. 8 and 9. 



