Manchester Memoirs, Vol. iiii. (1909), No. 10. 17 



IV. Conclusion. 



With regard to the precise age of the various imple- 

 ments found at Culbane, nothing, unfortunately, can be 

 decided until further observations have been made. There 

 appears, however, to be sufficient evidence to mark a long 

 period of development — probably from Early Neolithic 

 right into the Bronze Age. 



Wherever possible some idea of the horizon in the 

 diatom deposit at which they occurred has been given, 

 but, as can readily be understood, many of them have 

 only been found on the disintegration of the material in 

 the process of brick-making, and their position, therefore, 

 cannot be stated. Even where the horizon is given, it is, 

 unfortunately, not of any great archaeological value, as 

 while the deposit was being formed, and possibly long 

 afterwards, it would be so soft that anything falling on its 

 surface would sink in some places right to the bottom, 

 and in other places possibly not so deep. The irregular 

 shape, too, of many of the implements may be due rather 

 to the original form of the stones from which they were 

 made, than to any particular design. 



So far as I can ascertain, no Bronze implements have 

 been found in the deposit itself, though numbers of Bronze 

 weapons of various kinds have been found in the bed of 

 the Bann at Portglenone, and at Toome, indiscrimiiiately 

 mixed with flint arrow-heads, stone celts, etc., but these 

 are possibly the relics of various fights at fords which, in 

 all probability, existed at these places. These finds have 

 been fully dealt with by O'Laverty ('57), Day ('67), Wood- 

 Martin ('86), Alunro ('90), and others. 



Regarding the probable uses of the numerous flint 

 flakes found in the vicinity of the Bann, the suggestion 

 made by Sir John Evans ('68) that they were used mounted 



