ON THE AGE OF STONE CIRCLES. 437 



The Stone Im^olements excavated at Arbor Lou; 1901. 

 £1/ Henry Balfour. 



Detailed references to the positions in ■which the various stone imple- 

 ments were found during the excavations are given in Mr. Gray's reports, 

 and tlie exact position of each is marked upon the plan prepai-ed from his 

 elaborate and veiy careful survey, which it is hoped may be published later 

 on. The depth at which each implement was found is also noted in the 

 report. 



As regards the implements collectively but little need be said, as they 

 are unfortunately few in number, and, while all are of forms well known 

 in the finds of the Neolithic period, with which such forms are usually 

 associated, they are not of a sufficiently typical and distinctive kind to 

 render it absolutely certain that they belong to Neolithic times. That 

 they should be referred to that period seems to me extremely probable, 

 particularly when the facts regarding the nature of the implements are 

 considered in I'elation to other evidence, viz., the total absence of any 

 objects of bronze amongst the finds, and the fact of what is stated to have 

 been an early Bronze Age tumulus having been constructed out of the 

 material which formed part of the original structure of the monument, 

 which must therefore have antedated the tumulus, and, presumably, by 

 a period long enough for the original function and probable sanctity of 

 the circle to have been forgotten. At the same time it must be admitted, 

 in regard to the stone implements hitherto unearthed, that any or all of 

 them might have been made and used during the Bronze Age. Simple 

 flakes, flakes with secondary chipping, and ' scrapers ' of flint belong 

 practically to all periods. Their manufacture persisted during the metal 

 ages so long as their efficiency as tools and the rapidity with which they 

 could be made rendered them desirable. 



Perhaps the most striking implement of those found, and the one 

 which might claim with most justification to be assigned definitely to the 

 Neolithic period, is that numbered 20 in Mr. Gray's report, found near 

 the centre of the circle at a depth of 27 cm. This is a small blade of flint . 

 of very broad, leaf-shaped outline, flaked on both sides and rather clumsily 

 shaped, being thicker towards one edge than the other. It resembles a 

 leaf- shaped arrow-head, but may have been hafted and used perhaps as a 

 knife, as the point is extremely obtuse and not very carefully shaped for 

 penetration. 



With one or two exceptions, the remaining implements showing any 

 considerable working along the edges may be classed as varieties of the 

 ' scraper' or 'side-tool,' and in this category I should class that numbered 

 3 by Mr. Gray, who suggests that ib may have been a spear-head. It 

 could at most be regarded only as a spear-head in process of manufacture, 

 rejected before completion. It is worked on one face only, and, rough 

 though it is, would serve very well as a scraping tool ; the point at one 

 end, if intentional, could have served for cutting grooves. Three well- 

 defined 'scrapers' (Nos. 7, 14, 15) were found in the ditch varying from 

 a very broad, semicircular-edged foi'm to a very narrow ' duck-bill ' shape : 

 they are familiar forms. An 'outside flake' (No. 10) shows secondary 

 chipping along two edges, and was probably a scraper : it is evidently 

 but a fragment of a fair-sized flake, broken, perhaps, in use. No. 5 is 

 also a fragment showing some flaking at the bulb end of a small-size flake^ 



