THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD 



At Ickleford, 1 to the north of Hitchin, several Palaeolithic imple- 

 ments have been found in gravels lying in the valley of the Hiz. I have 

 likewise a pointed specimen from Bearton Green, 2 also to the north of 

 Hitchin, but in an angle between the rivers Oughton and Hiz. 



In a summary account such as this, it has not appeared expedient to 

 enter fully into the geological features of each discovery, or to describe 

 minutely the character of each implement. The references given in the 

 notes will in most cases enable the reader to obtain more detailed 

 information, should he desire to have it. 



THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD 



Between the Palaeolithic or River-drift period that we have been 

 considering, and the Neolithic or Surface Stone period that now 

 demands our attention, there exists in this country, at all events a gap 

 of unnumbered years, which, as already remarked, it has been found 

 impossible to bridge over in any satisfactory manner. At the same time, 

 it seems almost equally impossible to fix even an approximate date for 

 the advent of Neolithic man ; and with regard to many of the stone 

 implements of which he made use, any chronological arrangement 

 seems hopeless. It is, however, probable that some of the hatchets, 

 merely chipped into shape and not ground or polished, may be of earlier 

 date than those which are polished, though tools and weapons of both 

 kinds may have been, and probably were, in use side by side through 

 many successive generations. It also seems almost certain that some of 

 the more highly finished forms, and especially those in which a perfora- 

 tion for the haft has been made, belong to the close of the Neolithic 

 period, if not indeed to the commencement of that of Bronze. During 

 this latter period flint arrow-heads were in common use, and flint scrapers 

 were employed for producing fire from pyrites, if not also for the pre- 

 paration of skins ; while even in Roman times flints were chipped into 

 form for the armature of the tribula or threshing sledges. Flints more 

 or less carefully chipped into shape were commonly employed not more 

 than fifty years ago for ' striking a light ' by means of a piece of steel 

 or iron and tinder, and the manufacture of gun-flints still survives, not- 

 withstanding the introduction of numerous varieties of percussion guns. 



In considering the antiquities formed of flint and other stones, and 

 found in this country, it will therefore be best to classify them according 

 to their form and character, and to adopt some such arbitrary arrange- 

 ment as that which I have followed in my ' Ancient Stone Imple- 

 ments, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain.' 



Chipped or rough-hewn Celts or Hatchets. These are probably much 

 more abundant in the county, especially on its western side, than is com- 

 monly supposed. Where the whole surface of a field is thickly strewn 



1 Ancient Stone Implements, 2nd ed. p. 536 ; Trans. Herts Nat. Hist. Sac., viii. p. 184, 

 pis. xi. 6, xii. 5. 



* Trans. Herts Nat. Hist. Soc., viii. p. 184, pi. xi. 2. 



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