Prehistoric Archaeology of Cambridgeshire 247 



posed to be military works, it is possible that they may have 

 equally well served the purpose of preventing cattle-lifting in 

 ancient times. Professor Ridgeway supposes that they are 

 referred to by Tacitus in describing the suppression of a 

 rebellion of the Iceni and other East Anglian tribes by 

 Ostorius (in A.D. 50). And finally as regards the associated 

 remains; these consist principally of Roman coins (Devil's 

 Dyke, Reche, Burwell Fen; Heydon Ditch, Heydon), of 

 Roman vessels (Devil's Dyke, Bottisham and Burwell Fen), 

 of bronze fibulae (Bottisham), and finally bronze and iron 

 implements (at Heydon). Tumuli were once visible near the 

 Fleam Dyke at-Mutlow. 



Among other instances of ancient settlements there may 

 be specially noticed the important tumuli known as the 

 Chronicle Hills near Triplow. Later settlements are those 

 of Barrington, where remains of both British and Anglo- 

 Saxon villages have been found. Nearer Cambridge itself 

 are the sites at Comberton (Roman villa), and Grantchester, at 

 which latter place are ancient earthworks commonly ascribed 

 to the Roman period, while other localities have been already 

 mentioned incidentally in connection with the various dis- 

 coveries made from time to time, small settlements of the 

 Romano-British period being particularly numerous. 



Turning now to the general consideration of the flint 

 implements which have been brought to light, we find that 

 these objects carry us back, as was to be expected, to more 

 early periods than any suggested by the antiquities hitherto 

 enumerated. For the occurrence of Palaeoliths denotes the 

 presence of man in a phase of cultural evolution far anterior 

 to that attained by the British inhabitants of the county. 

 It must however be at once stated that while Cambridgeshire 

 itself is not fertile as yielding examples of ancient flint imple- 

 ments, yet a step over the county border into Suffolk brings 

 one to perhaps the most important factory of these objects in 

 the whole of Europe. To this day the trade in gun-flints 

 persists at Brandon as a souvenir of the once far more 



