FLINT FRACTURE AND FLINT IMPLEMENTS 39 



late Sir Joseph Prestwich, regarded these specimens as affording 

 evidence of the former existence of a race of beings much more 

 ancient than the makers of the palaeoliths, initiated another 

 period of unrest, and for the third time the archaeological world 

 was grievously disturbed, and the usual division of forces took 

 place. Those who supported Mr. Harrison asserted that the 

 flaked flints he had discovered were undoubtedly the work of 

 man, and represented the type of implement which they would 

 expect to find in such an ancient deposit ; while his opponents 

 contended that the flaking on the flints was undoubtedly due 

 to natural pressure or percussion and therefore not indicative 

 of human handiwork. Since the publication of Mr. Harrison's 

 discoveries, a number of pre-palaeolithic implements which 

 seem to link up the primitive Kentian implements with the 

 later palaeoliths have been found in various Pliocene and early 

 Pleistocene deposits in East Anglia, and these specimens, 

 though accepted by an ever-widening circle of prehistorians, 

 have in their turn been regarded by certain investigators as 

 representing the work of nature. It will thus be seen that the 

 science of prehistory has advanced only by slow and somewhat 

 painful steps, and it may be of interest to inquire into the 

 causes of this tardy progress. 



The prolonged and heated controversies which have in- 

 evitably followed any new discoveries of flaked flints tending 

 to extend the antiquity of the human race indicate clearly that 

 the acceptance or non-acceptance of these specimens has not 

 been actuated by any clear and definite scientific knowledge of 

 the differences exhibited by flints flaked by man or by the 

 unguided forces of nature. 



If such knowledge had existed the controversies which have 

 raged round the neoliths and palaeoliths, and which are now 

 being conducted in regard to the pre-palaeoliths, would either 

 have not occurred at all or, if commenced, would have been of 

 a less prolonged and heated character. But in the absence of 

 definite scientific data, other and less satisfactory means for 

 arriving at a decision had to be employed. A prehistorian 

 expressed himself to be in favour of accepting or not accepting 

 any given flaked flints, simply by reason of his preconceived 

 views and personal prejudices, and the majority of investigators 

 are still swayed by such unscientific influences. In the long 

 run what is known as " common sense " prevailed in regard to 



