GRAVEL AROUND WALDERSLADE. 209 



no doubt much of the work of EoHthic man is indistinguishable 

 from that of natural agencies, much on the other hand is very 

 different and often bears a striking resemblance to that on the 

 more makeshift of the tools of later periods. And one must 

 remember that the similarity of many of these implements to 

 the products of nature is only what one might expect since they 

 are man's first attempts, especially when one takes into consider- 

 ation the fact that most of these tools at least were of a temporary 

 nature, being made when occasion demanded, and thrown away 

 immediately after use. 



One of the greatest obstacles to the general acceptance of 

 these chipped flints as the work of man has been the difficulty of 

 assigning any definite use to them, but in this connection one 

 must remember that the purposes for which many of the indisput- 

 able implements of later periods were intended are also quite 

 inexplicable. 



Probably one ot the first uses to which a flint was put, was 

 the scraping of the adherent flesh from the inside of a newly 

 removed skin. For this purpose the piece of flint employed 

 must have a regular edge, but as this condition is rarely met 

 with in nature, it was usually necessary to remove the irregular 

 portions by chipping. It is to this class that the majority of the 

 Eolithic implements belong. The " scraper," indeed, is one of 

 the commonest of prehistoric implements and is still to be 

 counted among the domestic appliances of certain savage 

 races. 



A good example of a scraper is shewn in fig. i. It is a 

 tabular piece of flint with the edge trimmed or bevelled by 

 chipping. The dotted parts of the drawing represent the 

 original crust of the flint, and the lined portions, the fractured 

 surfaces : of the latter only the small chippings shewn in the 

 side views are artificial. The chipping is of the same deep red- 

 brown and opaque colour as the rest of the outside of the 

 flint. 



Another type of scraper is represented by fig. 2. The 

 working in this case is translucent and, although much stained, 

 is therefore fresh in appearance when compared with the body of 

 the flint. The knob at the end was probably used as a handle. 

 The fashioning of a scraper from a knobbed piece of flint is 

 peculiar to Eohthic man. 



