EARLY MAN 



by the method of grinding, stone other than flint could be utilized. 

 We therefore find basalt, quartzite, and other rocks now used in the 

 manufacture of implements, and the instrument is usually polished all 

 The cutting edge is sharp at one end and the other end is 



over. 



obtusely pointed or left somewhat rough for insertion into a handle. 

 Examples of the celt or axe of this period have been found in the beds 

 of the Thames and Kennet. Two large specimens, one of polished 

 quartzite or grit and the other of chipped flint, found with charred 

 wood and bones on an island in the Thames at Reading, are preserved 

 in the Reading Museum. 



Examples have also been found at Abingdon, Bray, Pusey (Cherbury 

 Camp), Pamber Forest, Stratfield Saye, Thatcham, and other places in 

 or near the county. A perforated stone axe was found in a barrow at 

 Stancombe, and a perforated hammer-head of basalt was obtained from 

 the Thames near Reading. Other examples of holed hammers have 

 been found, but they are not properly referable to the Stone Age. Very 

 characteristic of this period are the ' scrapers.' They are smaller 

 than the palaeolithic scrapers, and have been found in considerable 

 numbers on the surface of fields in certain localities at Wallingford, 

 Caversham, Cockmarsh, Great Sheffbrd, Lambourn and other places. 

 They resemble the instrument used by the Eskimo for cleaning skins, 

 but may have been used for other purposes also. Associated with these 

 are often found arrow-heads of flint, some rudely made, some leaf- 

 shaped, and others exquisitely finished with a 'tang' and a barb on each 

 side. With regard to these and many other objects of flint or other 

 stone, it is right to say that the manufacture of them, if it existed 

 already in this county, doubtless did not cease upon 

 the introduction of bronze. Arrow-heads have 

 been found in the neighbourhood of Wallingford * 

 and at some other places, and a very perfect tanged 

 and barbed specimen was found at Reading ; but 

 they are by no means abundant in this county. 



The flint knife of this period, thin and beauti- 

 fully made, is very different from its prototype of 

 the Palaeolithic Age. A good example has lately 

 been dredged from the Thames at Stonehouse, 

 Cookham Dean. Its form is lanceolate, and its 

 length is slightly over 3! inches, but it has obvi- 

 ously lost a portion of its base or stem, possibly as 

 much as 1 1 inches. It is of dark flint, and has 

 been shaped by chipping with great skill. Mr. R. 

 E. Goolden, F.S.A., has called attention to this 

 ' find.' Another example was found in the Thames 

 at Long Wittenham. A dagger of oval shape was 

 found in a barrow at Lambourn. A gouge or 

 hollow chisel of chipped flint, ochreous in colour, 



1 See Davies collection, Reading Museum. 

 I 177 23 



FLINT DAGGER FROM A 

 BARROW AT LAMBOURN. 



