5 8o 



NATURE 



[Oct. 12, 1882 



newly-deposited material, and made other tools on the 

 new " floor." The two white streaks on the top of the 

 upper " floor " are London Clay mixed with sand. Some- 

 times the tools and flakes are to be seen in this clay, but 

 of course they were washed into it in Palaeolithic times by 

 floods. Above the ''floor" is sandy loam and loamy sand ; 

 the uppermost part, and sometimes the whole of the 

 material above the "floor," is not water-laid; in other 

 words, it is one form of " trail ; " above this " trail," 

 where the darker tint is engraved, is humus, with Neo- 

 lithic celts and flakes. 



When the material above the "floor" is carefully re- 

 moved, as I have so had it removed for me several times, 

 the surface of the old working place is exposed. The 

 stones are chiefly subangular broken flints, under the 

 average size, the crust sometimes ochreous, at other times 

 grey, quartzite pebbles, pieces of sandstone, a few pieces 

 of quartz, cretaceous fossils, and numerous small grey 

 flint pebbles, with traces of chalk. Intermixed with 

 these stones are large numbers of keen lustrous flakes 

 and many implements, all sharp, and as a rule (not with- 

 out exceptions) small in size and well made, some so 



exquisitely made as to rival the best Neolithic work. 

 With these tools, fossil bones, mostly broken, belonging 

 to the mammoth, horse, bison, and reindeer, occur with 

 broken tusks, teeth, and antlers of the same and other 

 animals ; human bones and teeth I have never been able 

 to light on. I have, however, many times seen such tender 

 things as leaves, small pieces of wood and small crushed 

 branches, generally, especially is this the case with the 

 leaves, very friable. Molluscan remains in immediate con- 

 tact with the " floor " sometimes occur, and I have seen 

 them both below and above it, and in contact with the bones 

 and implements. Three or four feet below the " floor," 



shells are sometimes very common. Both under and above 

 the "floor" are occasional seams and blocks of London 

 clay, brought from a short distance to the north-west, 

 where the clay comes to the surface. As a rule there 

 are no very large blocks of flint or other large stones on 

 the "floor." The non-waterlaid covering mass often 

 disturbs the " floor," ploughs it up, and pushes underneath 

 it. The twisting, contortion, and undulation of the mate- 

 rial above the " floor " seems to prove that it was laid 

 down by moving ice from the north. This ice-deposited 

 "trail" is full of small whitish pebbles; fixed in the 

 tenacious material at various angles. Abraded and whitened 



tf^v 



implements are also met with in the " trail," examples 

 no doubt caught up from old exposed surfaces by the ice- 

 sheet, and brought from a distance to their present 

 position. No Palasolithic implements occur above the 

 "trail," the "trail " seals up all the relics of the Palaeo- 

 lithic age, and as far as the evidence of north-east 

 London goes, Palaeolithic man had quite retired before 

 the "trail" was deposited. When implements are found 

 on the surface, the ground may have been denuded, and 

 the implements exposed. 



Fig. 2 is a measured section through the " floor " 

 facing west ; on the other side of the section, illustrated 



in Fig. 1, the "floor" is seen at from 3 feet 6 inches to 

 4 feet 10 inches beneath the surface, muddy crail, with 

 sand and a few stones, is present at B and c, — D is 

 humus. In the direction of the arrow, from north to 

 south, the " trail" is seen pushing under and upheaving 

 the "floor" with its implements ; the Hackney Brook is 

 towards the south, and a flooded brook to the south 

 would hardly upheave the "floor" from the north ; A is 

 a mass of London clay and sand brought from a distance 

 and pushed under the "floor" by the advancing "trail" 

 from the north. Where the " floor" has been crumpled 

 and disturbed, the implements show a very small amount 



