II. 



THE PALEOLITHIC DEPOSITS AT HITCHLST AND THEIR 

 RELATION TO THE GLACIAL EPOCH. 



By Clement Reid, F.L.S., F.G.S. 



(Communicated by the President.) 



Read at Watford, 22nd March, 1898.* 



Certain excavations and borings at Hoxne, undertaken in the 

 year 1896 at the cost of the British Association and of the Royal 

 Society, threw much light on the relation of Palaeolithic man to 

 the Glacial Epoch. It was thought advisable therefore to examine 

 the similar deposits at Hitchin, to ascertain to what extent the 

 conclusions already arrived at were supported by exploration at 

 a fresh locality. It was desired also to see whether a new locality 

 would aid us in restoring pages in the geological history missing 

 in the Hoxne record. At the instance of Sir Archibald Geikie, 

 a grant of £50 was made by the Council of the Royal Society 

 towards the cost of the necessary excavations, borings, and 

 incidental expenses, unavoidable if the inquiry was to be earned 

 out satisfactorily. Of this sum, only about £30 has been expended, 

 for, after reaching a certain stage with good results, it was dis- 

 covered that any further advance meant a far greater expenditure 

 of time and money than seemed justified. Work was therefore 

 stopped as soon as the main point under dispute had been cleared 

 up and a sufficient series of fossil plants had been obtained to 

 determine the climatic conditions which held while the ancient 

 alluvial strata were being deposited. 



It is perhaps scarcely necessary under the circumstances to do 

 more than allude to the results of previous work. Palaeolithic 

 implements have long been known from Hitchin, and their position 

 in and at the base of a stony brickearth was well ascertained. 

 It was also known that this brickearth rested on loam and shell 

 marl, with fresh-water mollusca and mammalian remains. All 

 this had been made perfectly clear, principally by the researches 

 of Sir Joseph Prestwich, Sir Jolm Evans, Mr. William Ransom, 

 and Mr. William Hill. The most important of the doubtful points 

 were the relations of these ancient alluvia to the widespread sheet 

 of Chalky Boulder Clay, and to the valleys of the existing streams. 



In the prosecution of these supplementary researches I have 

 been greatly aided by the local assistance freely rendered by 

 Mr. W. Hill and Mr. W. Ransom. I have also to thank the 

 diff"erent landowners and tenants, especially Mr. Theodore Ransom 

 and Mr. Jeeves, for the liberality with which they have permitted 

 excavations and borings to be made on their land. 



* Reprinted from the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society,' vol. Ixi (1897), 

 p. 40, by permission of the Council. 



