Phillips.] ^" [May 21, 



in far distant Java implements of a somewhat similar character have 

 been met with ; a fact of considerable interest pointing to a prehis- 

 toric connection. Flakes and cores are limited in their distribution 

 to the area wliich extends north and south from Kerowlie in Rajputana, to 

 Peyton on the Godaveri, in Bombay, and east and w^est from Singhbhum, 

 in western Bengal, to Sukkur on tlie Indus, in Sind, and still farther even 

 to Gwadar, in Beluchistan. The polished celts extend from Upper Assam 

 to Singlibhum, in Bengal, and from the Iravvadi Yalley, in Burmah, to 

 Jabalpur, in the Central Provinces." 



The map is colored to sliow these distributions respectively for each 

 class in the order above referred to, light pink, light purple, and light 

 blue. Mr. Ball oifers two theories to account for this distribution of flint 

 implements; one, that from a central interior point spread forth successive 

 waves of emigration at different stages of civilization ; the other, to wliich 

 he inclines, was that the central area was a point of convergence rather 

 than of divergence, basing his opinion on the fact that the manufactures 

 become more abundant, and exliibit greater skill in proportion as we re- 

 cede from this central area. A fixct tending, in his judgment, to corroborate 

 the notion that India was once an island, wliich gradually arose from the 

 ocean at a period subsequent to its first being inhabited ; tliat as the central 

 parts of the country became accessible to wanderers from the surrounding 

 quarters, with a knowledge of their respective arts, were thrown more in 

 contact with each other, becoming the ancestors of some of the widely dis- 

 tinct races now living in India." Mr. Ball adds to his paper a list (cover- 

 ing twelve pages 8vo), of the localities in India where ancient stone imple- 

 ments have been discovered, and I would call your attention to the whole 

 article from which these extracts (referring to India) have been taken as 

 being carefully written and of great interest arnd importance. (Pioceedings 

 of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, Vol. 1, Ser. ii. No. 13. April, 1879.) 



In the opinion of some writers of prominence and ability, the very ex- 

 istence of a stone age, per se, has been doubted, and the suggestion thrown 

 out, which is plausible enough, that lithic implements, ifec. , were used in 

 connection with others of metal which have not survived to modern times. 

 It is not my wish to enter into any controversy respecting this much vexed 

 question. My only object in the present instance has been to gather into 

 one paper valuable facts, at present dispersed and scattered. 



[Note.— A.t the Congress of Archaeologists, in 1872, the Marquis de Vibray, ex- 

 hibited a collection of stone implements, &c., found in Japan, amounting in all 

 to sixty-seven. Of the hatchets many were perforated, and the types all bore 

 resemblance to similar ones found elsewhere. The chief material of which they 

 were formed was j/r(cZe, but other stoneswere also used, including o6.sir/ia>i. The 

 age of these objects could not be satisfactorily determined, nor what the 

 relative civilization of Japan was in what seemed to be a polished stone age. 



Within the past year (1879) dolmens have been opened in Japan in which stone 

 arrows, &c., have been found. It is stated that the shell mounds at Amori con- 

 tain bones of monkeys, deer, boars, wolves, and dogs, with not a few remains 

 that plainly point to the former prevalence of cannibalism. In Cochin-China, 

 the French aggressions have led to the discovery of stone implements, un- 

 doubtedly fashioned by the hand of man, among pottery, shells, and human 

 and animal remains.] 



