306 I'livestigationfi at Knmnlc Farm Pit. 



has not been supposed, hitherto, to indulge in minute tools of 

 delicate workmanship, and because the idea is contrary to people's 

 expectations and preconceived notions, they are denied by many 

 to be the work of man! They are an exceedingly interesting 

 study, and before long will be recognised as of human authorship, 

 and will be carefully sought for and examined. 1 first found tliem 

 at Welwyn, Herts, in conjunction with unabraded Pala;o]ithic 

 implements. Some of both are now in tlie British Museum. 



With regard to the question of the use of the implements of 

 normal size, it is remarkable that even the very best, with the 

 keenest cutting edges, have been used for scraping. This and 

 every other sign upon the implements themselves tend to show 

 that the vast majority were not weapons of war or the chase Ijut 

 implements for cutting, hacking, boring, scraping, and even 

 hammering or bruising, probably in connection with the food of 

 these people. 



Other items of interest are : — two implements of rather cherty 

 looking flint, re-fiakings liy various generations, a large number 

 of very small implements and tlie absence of very large ones. 

 Again, the ovate-lanceolate seems to have been a very favourite 

 form. True tongue-shaped implements are very rare, though the 

 proportion of them seems to be somewhat larger among the sharp 

 implements at the base of the ochreous gravel. Implements with 

 more or less parallel edges and a chisel-shaped head are remarkable 

 and fairly frequent. Many implements of various sliapes have 

 their points blunted, indeed often apparently smashed off, by the 

 use of the tool for some hammering or jabbing or severe scraping 

 purpose. Frequently this has been done by a later generation of 

 Palaeolithic men than that in which the tool was made. Imple- 

 ments of from Sin. to 4^in. in length are very common. The large 

 number of tools of very rude make, but of generally implemental 

 shape, is noteworthy. Probably there is in other pits also a con- 

 siderable proportion of these, but they have been, as it seems to 

 me, unwisely disregarded. They often have a tale to tell. Indeed, 

 each one is a new word in the old story. Quite a number of the 

 tools have on them one or sometimes two very neat spots of crust 



