A HISTORY OF KENT 



certain more or less abraded and weathered fragments of flint bearing 

 no trace of human workmanship were associated with them and in- 

 cluded under the name of ' eolithic implements.' Flints of this character, 

 bearing no trace of having been artificially shaped, but only some 

 battering and bruising at the edge which were attributed to wear arising 

 from use as implements, were naturally viewed with suspicion by the 

 scientific world. This suspicion was not lessened but rather increased 

 when the so-called ' eolithic implements ' were found to be procurable 

 in large numbers at different places in the district, because it became 

 more than ever clear that they were purely natural forms produced 

 either by the forces which crushed and abraded the river and drift- 

 gravels, or by forces which have operated upon the gravel-beds since 

 their deposition, such as ice-pressure, earth movements, and the like.* 



It is quite clear, however, that a small proportion of what are 

 called eoHths found at high elevations on the chalk plateau of Kent and 

 elsewhere, are of human manufacture, and as their essential features 

 resemble in every way those of the Paleolithic Age, we propose to 

 deal with them under that head. But as far as ' eolithic implements ' 

 are concerned it seems evident that a large proportion must be rejected 

 as lacking any evidence of human workmanship or signs of wear 

 arising from intelligent use. 



A large number of palaeolithic implements discovered in Kent 

 have been found on the surface of the ground. Some of these are 

 drift-worn and were probably derived from drift gravel, but others are 

 wonderfully sharp and entirely unworn. These latter have evidently 

 been preserved from injury by being buried in the earth. The speci- 

 mens of paleolithic implements and chips found by Mr. F. C. J. 

 Spurrell,' many years ago, buried in sands and clays near Crayford 

 Church, were as sharp as when first fractured by man, and show httle 

 alteration of surface. In a very large proportion, however, the imple- 

 ments generally speaking have undergone some degree of wear, great or 

 small, and the superficial colour and even texture of the flint has under- 

 gone some change. The colouring acquired is usually of a reddish or 

 brownish, and sometimes ochreous or yellowish hue, whilst the texture 

 of the mineral has been so altered as to produce greater opacity and a 

 less horny appearance than is usually found in an ordinary chalk flint 

 freshly broken.' This alteration of the character of the flint extends 

 sometimes only a little below the surface, and sometimes to a consider- 

 able depth. 



A very large number of places in Kent have yielded paleolithic 

 implements, but as these will be individually mentioned in the topo- 

 graphical list at the end of this article, it will not be necessary to refer to 



> Since the above was written, the possibility of these pieces of flint having been shaped hy 

 natural forces, has been clearly demonstrated by Mr. S. Hazzledine Warren, F.G.S., before the Anthro- 

 pological Institute (London). 



' Arch. Joum. ixxvii. 294-99. 



» It is possible that the colouring matter, protoxide of iron, has been produced by the flint itself 

 in the ordinary process of decay. See Quart. 'Joum. Geol. Soc. Ivi. 8, 9. 



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