EARLY MAN 



AMONG the various counties of England probably there is 

 none which has furnished a more complete and representa- 

 tive series of prehistoric remains than Kent. Every one of 

 the different ages into which antiquities divide the pre- 

 historic period is represented among the antiquities of Kent, and in 

 some cases discoveries of exceptional importance have been made within 

 the borders of the county. 



There is perhaps no large part of England which has been more 

 carefully or more successfully studied by antiquaries. The result is that 

 many important observations and discoveries have been placed upon 

 record ; and in attempting to give a brief but comprehensive sketch of 

 them, it seems desirable to follow the plan adopted in the case of other 

 counties, employing the following main divisions : — (i) Palaeolithic 

 Age ; (2) Neolithic Age ; (3) Bronze Age ; (4) Prehistoric Iron Age. 



The Paleolithic Age 



The stage in human culture known as the Stone Age has been 

 divided by archaeologists and anthropologists into two somewhat sharply 

 defined sections, viz. the Palaeolithic Age and the Neolithic Age. 

 There is every reason to think that these two ages were separated by a 

 long interval of time, during which either man did not exist in this 

 part of Europe or the evidence of his presence has perished. 



Our knowledge of the Paleolithic Age is derived mainly from 

 stone implements, articles of bone, etc. Certain rude sketches scratched 

 on bones and stones have been found on the Continent of Europe, and 

 these suggest that the men of this earlier Stone Age possessed a much 

 higher degree of artistic culture than one would have been prepared to 

 expect. It is a remarkable fact that although man was able at such an 

 early stage to sketch the mammoth and other animals from life in such 

 a way that the likeness can now be recognized, he had not acquired the 

 art of shaping weapons or implements of flint by means of grinding or 

 rubbing. Indeed, it is a characteristic mark of palaeolithic implements 

 of flint that the shaping has always been produced by chipping, and 

 sometimes, of course, the forms have been modified by wear and the 

 re-sharpenings by chipping which thereupon became necessary. This 

 applies specially to implements formed of flint, bur it is impossible to 

 say how far it is true of other materials, or even other kinds of stone, 

 because the character of the weathering and method of disintegration 

 vary according to the substance. 



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