EARLY MAN 



Paleolithic implements occur on the surface of the ground and in 

 beds of gravel. The latter, which may be conveniently considered first, 

 may be divided into the following three classes : (i) deposits of gravel 

 in the form of terraces near the beds of existing rivers, such as those in 

 the valleys of the Thames, the Stour, and the Cray ; (2) deposits 

 occupying valleys which, although obviously shaped to a large extent 

 by river action, are now dry ; and (3) deposits on elevated ground, such 

 as those on the North Downs. 



The occurrence of palaeolithic implements in the gravels of the 

 Thames Valley at Swanscombe, Northfleet and other places in Kent as 

 well as in Middlesex, Essex, etc., is of great interest because on examin- 

 ation it will be found that many of the implements have been worn in 

 just the same way as have the flints of which the gravel is composed. 

 They have clearly been subjected to the same abrading forces, and 

 therefore they must have been shaped by man at a period prior to the 

 deposition of the gravel. It is also equally clear that the waters of the 

 river have much diminished since that time. 



The second class of deposits, occurring in valleys which are now 

 dry, are admirably illustrated by the implement-bearing gravels of West 

 Wickham, the upper part of the Valley of the Cray, etc. As these 

 implements are to a very large extent much drift worn, it is pretty clear 

 that they must be referred to an origin quite as remote as, if not more 

 remote than, the period when these dry valleys were important water- 

 courses. 



The third class, to which the high level gravels on the top of the 

 North Downs belong, presents a more difficult and complicated problem. 

 If these deposits of drift-worn gravel have ever been connected with a 

 river system it is certain that very great changes must have been pro- 

 duced subsequently by denudation, and it seems at any rate probable 

 that they were intimately associated with the forces by which the 

 Wealden district was denuded. 



Considerable interest has been aroused in recent years by discoveries 

 of paleolithic implements in an abraded condition and lying at great 

 altitudes on the chalk, plateau. The subject has already been discussed 

 by the late Professor Prestwich ' and others.' Some antiquaries as well 

 as geologists (for the question comes within the scope of both archeology 

 and geology) have been inclined to think that an interval of time, far 

 greater than had hitherto been imagined, has elapsed since the implements 

 were made ; but the conclusion seems rather rash and entirely without 

 scientific value, seeing that we have no positive, nor even approximate 

 data as to the rate at which the changes of level, whether produced by 

 denudation or otherwise, have been effected. 



In order to distinguish these high-level implements from others 

 occurring at lower levels the term eolith was applied to them, and 



> On the occurrence of palaeolithic flint implements in the neighbourhood of Ightham, Kent, 

 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. (May 1889), pp. 270-97. 



» F. C. J. Spurrell : ' Palaeolithic Implements found in West Kent.' ^-luh. Cant. xv. 89-103, etc. 



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