A SUPPOSED NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT. II7 



which may add to the accumulated materials for a better know- 

 ledge of ante-historic man in our country/ 



REMARKS BY F. W . READER. 



It may be remembered, by those who were present when 

 Mr. Kenworthy's paper was read at the meeting of the Club, 

 that a considerable discussion was raised as to whether his 

 discoveries related to a Lake Dwelling, or to the results of 

 alluvial wash. 



As I have since then had the pleasure of assisting Mr. 

 Kenworthy and Mr. Cole in the preparation of the paper for 

 the Club's journal, and have spent a week at Braintree, making 

 the Plan and Sections already given in this paper, and otherwise 

 investigating the matter, it has been suggested that some remarks 

 from me might be of interest. 



With regard to Mr. Kenworthy's conclusions, I think that 

 he has, in the main, ample grounds on which to base them ; but 

 I also think they should be considered as tentative only. For 

 the present the record should be regarded more as a basis for 

 future observation than as in anyway complete or conclusive. 



There are one or two points that should be remembered in 

 considering this subject. In the first place, the excavations are 

 being carried out to obtain brick earth, and not for archaeological 

 research. Then it is only quite in the latter stage of his observa- 

 tions that Mr. Kenworthy developed the idea that layer No. II. 

 (see section on p. g8) was an artificial bed ; consequently, much 

 that might have been valuable evidence may have been over- 

 looked, such as the splitting, shaping, and position of the stakes. 

 For the same reason, the exact level of many of the apparently 

 less important relics has not been recorded, more particularly the 

 pottery. This is unfortunate, as pottery affords one of the best 

 means of evidence of the period of such remains. Further, the 

 black peaty soil of this bed renders objects very difficult of 

 recognition, and in the absence of continuous watching by 

 trained observers, no doubt much has been missed. 



I do not intend to make these remarks in a critical spirit, 

 but rather as explanatory. I consider Mr. Kenworthy's patient 



4 [It is much to be wished that all iiiideis and possessors of objects of the kind would 

 follow Mr. Kenworthy's enli^'htened policy. In our county alone there are hundreds of 

 specimens in private hands practically useless playthings to their owners and always liable to 

 be lost or mislaid, but which if deposited in one or other of our local museums would be pre- 

 served with others ot their kind, and would ultimately form most valuable scientific 

 evidence for the use of future workers in like subjects. — Ed.] 



