FLINT IMPLEMENTS. 67 



The earliest division in the table, the Eolithic, has long been 

 the subject of controversy. It can hardly be doubted that the 

 earliest implements and weapons selected for use by man were 

 stones naturally worn or broken; and that in process of time 

 such specimens would be rudely chipped on the edges to suit 

 particular purposes. Many flints to which the name ' eolith ' 

 has been applied have been collected on the Kent plateau and 

 elsewhere, but not all competent judges acknowledge their human 

 workmanship. They are found accompanied by recognised 

 palseoliths on the surface and, without admixture of later 

 forms, in gravels associated with the Clay-with-flints. The 

 literature of the subject is voluminous ; that which favours the 

 human origin has been inspired by the work of the late Mr. Ben- 

 jamin Harrison ; a useful summary of his results, with illustrations 

 of specimens, will be found in F. J. Bennett's book ' Ightham, 

 the story of a Kentish Village.' 1 Some of his examples are 

 convincing, but a series can be selected showing a gradual transi- 

 tion to forms which, on their merits, few would claim as showing 

 any sign of workmanship, and it is difficult to discover any 

 adequate criterion. Among the opponents of eoliths much 

 work has been done to show how natural agencies may produce 

 similar chipping, notably by Mr. F. N. Haward and by 

 Mr. Hazzledine Warren ; the latter has recently described a 

 ' natural eolith factory ' at Grays, where flints at the base of 

 the Thanet Sand have been subjected to natural pressure and 

 have in some cases developed chipping resembling that of eoliths, 

 or more rarely of palseoliths. That it should be difficult to dis- 

 tinguish between flints fractured by nature and those which early 

 man has adapted, by slight trimming, to his use is to be expected, 

 and it will probably remain open to individuals to hold either 

 opinion. It should be added that some writers consider ' eoliths ' 

 to be flints casually adapted for temporary use by men of all 

 periods, as opposed to finished implements showing the characteris- 

 tics of various cultures 2 ; and, further, that the cylindrical nodules 

 trimmed to a point belonging to the Strepy stage are more 

 suggestive of a first link in the chain of evolution of implements 

 than are the eoliths. 



The task of applying the remaining divisions to the Thames 

 valley has been taken up by many careful observers. 3 Since 

 implements of several types are abundant it is clear that, pro- 

 vided their chronological sequence is firmly established, they will 

 serve as zone-fossils for the Pleistocene, indicating the com- 

 parative date of any particular river-deposit; for this purpose 

 the system of ' sequence dates ' used by Mr. Warren (op. cit.) 



1 Garden City Press, Letch worth, 2nd Ed., 1917. 



2 Kendall, Rev. H. G. O., ' Eoliths their Origin and Age,' Proc. Prehist. Soc. 

 E. Anglia, vol. iii, 1921, pp. 333-352. 



3 See Hinton, M. A. C., and A. S. Kennard, ' Relative Ages of the Stone 

 Implements of the Lower Thames Valley,' Proc. GeoL Assoc., vol. xix, 1905, 

 pp. 76-100; and Warren, S. H., ' Late Geological Stage in the Lea Valley,' Quart. 

 Journ. GeoL Soc., vol. Ixviii, 1912. p. 223. 



