Il6 A SUPPOSED NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT. 



method of construction of habitations was imported from the 

 Continent ; these are questions we cannot at present decide. 

 But from the examination of the site and remains at Skitts Hill, 

 we may reasonably conclude that we have here very early habi- 

 tations, and that in these we have traces of Neolithic man in 

 this district. It has been suggested by some that the greater 

 part of Essex was so much occupied by primaeval forest that 

 there was little room left for primitive man, and that, for the 

 most part, the land was occupied by wild animals. Confining 

 our observations to Great Britain, and comparing Essex with 

 the more open plains and moorlands, such as Salisbury Plain, 

 Grims Dyke country, and the Wolds of Yorkshire, it may be 

 that on account of the abundance of timber, Essex was less 

 favourable for the settlement of men of the Stone-age and later 

 times, and, in consequence, they were not so numerous. For 

 men possessing only stone and other primitive tools, forest 

 clearing would be a difficult undertaking, and for that reason, if 

 for no other, the numerous valleys and margins of streams were 

 inhabited before the higher grounds, and, probably, at the 

 earliest arrival of Neolithic man. And here, at Skitts Hill, 

 have been found what we take to have been one of these early 

 settlements, just where we might expect, namely, in proximity 

 to the river and upon the lower grounds. When once the Lake- 

 settlements were formed, they, no doubt, survived throughout 

 long epochs, and may have continued during the Stone, Bronze, 

 and Iron periods. This seems to be a reasonable deduction, and 

 one supported by comparison with like discoveries. And such 

 settlements as that at Skitts Hill may really be numerous, but 

 concealed from observation by alluvial accumulations, which will 

 be removed in the future for the purposes of the orick-making 

 industry. These valley beds are less-frequently disturbed than 

 the pleistocene deposits on higher ground, which are excavated 

 for the sake of loams and gravels. Hence the interest of the 

 Skitts Hill discovery, and the importance of preserving the 

 objects found, as a clue to future discoveries in this branch of 

 local archaeology. 



All the objects described in this paper are now placed 

 in the possession of the Essex Field Club for exhibition 

 in the Coimty Museum of Natural History, my wish being 

 that they may form an object-lesson to those who, like myself, 

 are seeking on every occasion to find and record any new facts 



