31. Note on a Palaeolithic Implement made of 



Manganese-Ore. 



By L. Leigh Fermor, D.Sa, A.R.S.M., F.G.S., Assistant 



Superintendent, Geological Survey of India. 



(With Plate No. XXXI.) 



Although I do not profess to be familiar with the literature 

 of chipped-stone implements, or to be, in any way, an autho- 

 rity on the subject, yet I think that the palaeolithic implement 

 referred to on page 713 of my Memoir on the Manganese-ore 

 Deposits of India, is of such interest on account of the material 

 of which it is composed, that it is worthy of description. 



It was picked up by Mr. C. E. Low of the Central Pro- 

 vinces Commission on the surface of the ground near Budbuda 

 in the Balaghat district, Central Provinces, and presented by 

 him to the Geological Survey of India (22-151). 



The chief interest of the specimen lies in the material out 

 of which it has been fashioned, viz., manganese- ore. The ac- 

 tual mineral character of the specimen is revealed by a frac- 

 ture of much younger date than the patina on the specimen. 

 This fracture is the cause of the big bay in the middle of 

 the left side of the specimen as shown in Fig. 1 of Plate XXXI. 

 This fracture shows that the implement has been made from 

 a piece of the fine-grained manganese-ore composed of an 

 intimate mixture of braunite and psilomelane so characteristic 

 of the manganese-ore deposits of the Central Provinces. It is 

 the type of ore of which a photomicrograph is given on Plate 

 I, facing page 54 of the Memoir already cited. The specific 

 gravity of the specimen is 4*430 ; this agrees with the composi- 

 tion mentioned above. 



The specimen, which is illustrated by the two figures on 

 Plate XXXI, is 3-4 inches long* It is of palaeolithic type, and 

 seems to belong to the division of the river-drift implements 

 designated by Sir John Evans l as the ■ sharp-rimmed imple- 

 ments. 5 



Its general shape can be seen from the illustration, 2 and, 



perhaps, is best described as ovate-lanceolate. 



The implement is not the same on the two faces : one face 



A "The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of 

 Great Britain." 2nd edition (revised) ; p. 646 (1897). 



2 For the preparation of the process block, each figure of the im- 

 plement was cut out along its boundary from the print and mounted ; 

 and, consequently, the edges, as represented in the plate, are not quite 

 as angular as is really the case. 



