EARLY MAN 



The Medway Valley. A large number of implements of paL-eolithic character have 

 been obtained from various parts of this valley. Aylesford, Cuxton, St. Mary Hoo, Sandling, 

 and West Mailing have all furnished examples, and specimens are preserved at Maidstone 

 Museum as weU as in private collections. 



The Cray Valley. Implements have been found here at three places. Sir John 

 Evans found, at an elevation of over 500 ft. in Currie Wood, one which Mr. Spurrell considers 

 a ' land ' implement, having been but little worn by drift action. Some years ago Mr. H. G. 

 Norman found two at Green Street Green in the upper and dry part of the valley ; and in 

 1901 the present writer 1 obtained a drift-worn implement at a point about a quarter of a mile 

 south of Orpington Church, some distance lower down the valley. Other palaeolithic imple- 

 ments about forty in number have been found at Green Street Green by Mr. de B. Crawshay. 



The Darenth Valley. Implements have been found in this valley at more than one 

 point. Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., found one near Horton Kirkby at an elevation of 250 ft. ; 

 and Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell discovered another near Erith, whilst in the Crayford brick earths 

 he found indications of the important factory already mentioned. 



The Ravensbourne Valley. Among the numerous winding valleys cut in the chalk 

 of West Kent there are several which may be considered to form part of the present water- 

 shed of the Ravensbourne, although owing to the porous nature of the rock below they now 

 contribute little if anything towards the stream. It is clear, however, that at some former 

 time the conditions were very different : the forms of the valleys and the water-worn gravels 

 which lie within them indicate that the whole district has been very much subjected to erosion 

 by water in rapid motion, probably accompanied by low temperature. 



In one of these valleys lying in the eastern part of the parish of West Wickham - numer- 

 ous palaeolithic implements were found by the present writer in 1880 and subsequently. They 

 exhibit almost every degree of wear, and the amount of abrasion visible on some is remark- 

 able.^ The implements which were found in various parts of the valley, but specially in 

 Church Field, exhibit considerable varieties of shape, the predominating forms being dis- 

 coidal, ovoid, and almond-shaped. 



Examples of the chief forms are given in the accompanying photographs. Judging from 

 the great variety of form, colouring, and amount of wear on the implements it is probable 

 that the drift-gravel in which they occur has been brought from a great variety of places, and 

 has undergone many changes.* 



Ightham. The whole district round Ightham^ has been thoroughly and carefully 

 examined by Mr. Benjamin Harrison, with the result that a very large number of places have 

 yielded prehistoric remains. Palaeolithic implements have been found in the gravels of the 

 Shode Valley and at many other points. On the high ground to the north, in the parish of 

 Ash, Mr. Harrison has discovered large numbers of flints of dark brown colour and exhibiting 

 abrasion at the edges to which the term eolithic implements has been applied. The question 

 whether they have or have not been shaped by man has, as just mentioned, been the subject 

 of much discussion for some time past, and the whole question has engendered considerable 

 warmth. In any case it is quite clear that some extremely interesting implements of palaeo- 

 lithic workmanship have been found at high levels in the Ightham district. 



At Oldbury Hill, which lies to the south of the village of Ightham, some important evi- 

 dences of rock shelters* were discovered in 1890. Excavations in the talus near the bold, 

 projecting spur of the hill, and just below Mount Pleasant, revealed a large number of palaeo- 

 lithic flakes, 49 well-finished implements, and upwards of 600 waste chips of flint. It is evident, 

 therefore, that the shelter was used as a dwelling-place by several individuals, and that the 

 manufacture of implements was carried on at the place. From the number of neolithic im- 

 plements found near this shelter it seems probable that this part of Oldbury Hill was utilized 

 as a rock shelter at one time by the neolithic inhabitants who doubtless occupied the hill 

 itself and constructed around it defensive works. 



There arc many other parts of Kent where palasolithic implements have been discovered, 

 but these will be detailed in the topographical list at the end of this chapter. 



' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Ivii. 98. 



> Ptoc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) xi. l6i-66 ; Arch. Cant. xv. 100-2. 



3 Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell was of opinion that it was due to the action of waves on a sea-beach {Arch. 

 Cant. XV. loi). 



« See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Ivi. 9. ' Evans, Stone Im^. 608. 



» Brit. Assoc. Ref. 1891, pp. 353, 652. 

 I 313 40 



