446 Prehistoric Period. 



been recorded from Dartford Heath. At many of these sites the 

 implements show little evidence of wear, and they are apparently 

 in situ at Milton Street (Swanscombe) . They consist of the usual pear- 

 shaped, pointed and oval tools, probably all used in the hand without 

 hafting, and frequently retaining a butt of the original surface. 

 Besides these, there are large and well -formed flakes sometimes 

 converted by secondary working into knives and scrapers. These 

 interesting forms are frequently missing from collections the 

 collectors unfortunately often devoting themselves to repetitions 

 in great numbers of the hache and pointed implements. At 

 Galley Hill, Northfleet, a human skeleton, undoubtedly of this 

 period, was unearthed from under eight feet of gravel in 1898, and 

 described by Mr. E. T. Newton, of the British Museum (" Quarterly 

 Journal of Geological Society," 1895, Vol. LI., p. 505, and Proc. 

 Geol. Assoc., 1896, Vol. XIV., p. 305). 



NEOLITHIC PERIOD. 



Whether Neolithic man was the heir of the preceding race or an 

 immigrant of a later time is a subject full of difficulty, and hardly 

 suitable for discussion here. 



The implements of this age differ considerably from the hand 

 weapons of the Swanscombe types. We have a much greater variety 

 of tools, some obviously intended for hafting, on wooden handles ; 

 on the whole, they are smaller, such as arrowheads, saws, finely- 

 pointed implements for piercing and boring and indicate a wider 

 culture. Moreover, here, for the first time, we find the practice of 

 grinding employed. 



Although this stage is sometimes distinguished as that of 

 polished stone, it by no means follows that all or nearly all the 

 implements were ground. On the contrary, the instances of 

 grinding are exceedingly few in relation to the whole, and almost 

 confined to celts chisel-like forms intended for hafting. 



The spoils of the Swiss lake -dwellings include specimens of celts 

 set in horn sockets and driven into wooden handles. 



A considerable number of Neolithic weapons have been collected 

 from the pebbly heaths and river gravels of North-west Kent, and 

 are scattered among private collections. 



Among the few surviving monuments of Neolithic architecture 

 in the South-east of the district under survey are the dolmen 

 known as Kit's Coty House and the ruinous cromlech of Coldrum. 

 The latter probably belongs, like the great Stonehenge circle, to the 

 later part of the period, when bronze was beginning to be known. 



