66 SIR J. EVANS PALEOLITHIC DISCOVERY. 



They also vary much both in colour and workmanship, some 

 being ochreous while others are unstained, and some having the 

 surface glossy while others are quite dull. Some, especially the 

 larger specimens, are very roughly fashioned, while others have 

 been chipped into shape in a most skilful manner. A fine flake 

 of the so-called Moustier type, 5| inches long and 2| inches 

 broad, was found about 26 feet below the surface. With it 

 was a small ovate implement and the molar of an elephant to be 

 subsequently mentioned. 



The alluvial beds in which the implements occur extend in 

 a south-westerly direction for about 600 yards along the right 

 side of the valley of the Colne, and their l)ase is from 30 to 40 

 feet above the existing level of the river. They are about 20 feet 

 in thickness, and consist of sands, clay, and gravel, stratified in 

 places. At one time a dark muddy layer a foot or more in 

 thickness was exposed, which was probably the bottom of a small 

 lake or pond and was originally almost horizontal. When 

 exposed, however, it was much disturbed and distorted, in 

 consequence probably of the unequal dissolution of the chalk 

 below by means of the infiltrating water. 



Its character will be seen in Plate III, from a photograph 

 kindly taken by Miss Barker. The same lady has also been so 

 good as to photograph the section in an excavation in the southerly 

 part of the gravel beds (PI. II). In another, more northerly 

 excavation, the upper surface of the chalk has been exposed 

 l)elow the gravels. Most of the Palaeolithic implements are said 

 to have been found at a depth of 8 or 9 feet below the siirface, 

 but one of large size is stated to have been discovered immediately 

 above the chalk under 5 feet of gravel and 15 feet of clay. 



The constituent parts of the gravel are for the most part rolled 

 and sub-angvdar flints, some of large size ; but there are also 

 blocks of Tertiary sandstone or Sarsen-stone, and considerable 

 quantities of quartz and quartzite pebbles, no doubt derived from 

 glacial deposits higher up the valley. 



I have seen no land or fresh-water shells in the pits. As to 

 mammalian remains, the workmen state that some time ago they 

 came across a large bone in an almost vertical position, which 

 was so friable that it crmnbled away when touched. It is 

 described as having been about 10 feet in length and about 

 6 inches in diameter, and there is little doubt that it must have 

 been a large fossil tusk of an elephant. This view is confirmed 

 by the recent discovery at a depth of 26 feet of a molar of an 

 elephant, probably Elephas aritiqiius. This, however, was also 

 in an extremely friable condition. The tusk would also appear 

 to belong more probably to an animal of that species, as it does 

 not seem to have presented the usual curvature of the tusks of 

 primigenius. 



Trans. Hertfordshire Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. Kill, Part 1, February, 1907. 



