EARLY MAN 



Shrub Hill gravel in which the implements were found caps a low- 

 lying hill in the middle of the fens, and is about eight miles nearly- 

 due west of Brandon and one mile north of the present course of the 

 Little Ouse. 



In the neighbouring county of Suffolk (and also in the valley of the 

 Little Ouse) is Santon Downham, where several hundreds of Paleolithic 

 implements have been found in the river gravel. Many of these imple- 

 ments have been shaped with unusual skill, and are highly finished 

 examples of Paleolithic art.^ 



A discovery of a particularly interesting nature was made in 1878 in 

 the cliff by the sea-shore at West Runton near Cromer. Here at a 

 depth of 1 2 feet from the surface, in what was evidently the filled-up 

 channel of an ancient river, and above a freshwater bed, a fine well- 

 made implement of flint 4I inches was found. Sir John Evans subse- 

 quently found a large ochreous flake of Paleolithic age on the sea-shore 

 below the cliff.^ 



Other discoveries deserving of notice were an ochreous implement, 

 found by Mr. F. C.J. Spurrell in 1882 in Aylmerton parish not far from 

 Sheringham Heath,^ and a tongue-shaped implement, procured in 1884* 

 at South Wootton. 



Paleolithic remains found in drift gravels are naturally more or 

 less modified by drift wear. They are usually large flakes, hatchets 

 of pointed form, or ovate implements. Smaller and more delicately 

 made tools have however been found in the deposits in caves among 

 remains that are considered by some to be characteristic of Cave man. 

 How far the period of the River Drift man may have been distinct 

 from that of the Cave man is a question upon which there is some 

 difference of opinion. Some authorities ^ consider the latter to be 

 marked by a distinct advance in civilization, whilst others* regard the 

 remains of the so-called Cave man as indicative of the domestic side of 

 the life of early man, the remains found in the river drift consisting 

 mainly of rough hatchets, etc., being supposed to represent the imple- 

 ments and weapons used in his outdoor occupations, such as warfare and 

 hunting. 



Whatever the relationship of Drift man and Cave man may be 

 finally proved to have been, there can be no question that the Paleolithic 

 age as a whole occupies a well-defined period. It represents probably 

 the first appearance of man in this part of the globe, and is sharply 

 divided from the Neolithic age by a long interval of time and some not 

 inconsiderable geological changes during which the surface of our islands 

 was brought to much the same physical condition as that in which we 

 now find it. 



Before passing on to consider the later age of stone or Neolithic 



1 Evans, Ancient Stone Implements, ed. 2, pp. 559, 560. 



^ Op.cit. p. 572. s o/. cit. p. 572. * Op.cit. p. 572. 



^ W. Boyd Dawkins, Early Man in Britain (ed. 1880), p. 244 el seq. 

 ® Evans, Ancient Stone Implements, ed. 2, pp. 474, 475. 

 I 257 s 



