M5 



THE CONNEXION 

 BETWIXT YORKSHIRE AND SCANDINAVIA. 



J. E. MARR, M.A., Sec. C.S., 

 .9/. "301111'$ College, Cambridge. 



It is of interest to trace back the influence of Scandinavia upon 

 this country from historic into pre-historic times, and so backwards 

 into remote ages. To this influence, exerted again and again in 

 past times, are due not only many of the characters of the county 

 itself, but also to some extent the temperament of its inhabitants, 

 whether acquired from direct intercourse with the Scandinavian 

 peoples, or developed in conformity with the physical surroundings. 

 As is well known, the influence of the Scandinavians in historic 

 times is testified to by the abundance of ' wykes,' 'bys,' and 'thorpes,' 

 along the coast or situated in the interior of the county, whilst pre- 

 historic relics yield evidence of communication between the two 

 countries, during the Neolithic or 'polished stone' age. To give 

 one instance, the remarkable ripple-flaked stone tools found so 

 abundantly in Denmark occur also in Yorkshire, and in no other 

 English county. 



Prior to this, in the Great Ice Age, when nearly every part of our 

 island was covered with an icy mantle descending from the highlands 

 of our own country, the east coast of Yorkshire was subjected to the 

 invasion of ice from Scandinavia, as shown by the occurrence of 

 Scandinavian boulders in the (llacial Clays of the coast region, 

 and after the recession of the ice, the district, subject to a sub-glacial 

 climate, was occupied by plants similar to those of Norway and 

 other mountain regions, which still maintain an existence in the 

 hilly district of the West Riding, where they are accompanied by 

 certain Scandinavian insects. 



During the formation of the Chalk and Oolitic rocks, the site of 

 the county was occupied by a sea, spreading over a large part of what 

 is now north-central Europe, and doubtless at this period much 

 of the material which was spread out upon the sea-floor was derived 

 from the wearing away of the great continental tract, of which 

 mention will be presently made. These secondary rocks, when last 

 seen, are striking over the North Sea, and we get fragmentary repre- 

 sentatives of both Chalk and Oolites in Scania, the most southerly 

 province of Sweden. 



When we pass to an examination of the paleozoic sediments, 

 the influence of this great continental area, of which Scandinavia 



May 1890. 



