382 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [August, 1910. 



that shown in Fig. 1 — has been fashioned by chipping, as 

 can be seen from the figure. But since it was chipped, the 

 whole surface has become semi-polished, owing, probably, to 

 the corrosive action of surface waters rounding by solution the 

 sharp edges between the original subconchoidal fractures. 



The specimen shows, however, three fractures that are 

 probably of very recent age ; they might almost have been 

 made by the finder before he realised the character of the speci- 

 men. One of these (A) is at the tip, and is the cause of the 

 light-grey area on the left side of the tip, as seen in Fig. 1 ; 

 and the other two are on the left side of the implement, as 

 viewed in Fig. 1, one of the fractures (B) forming the bay al- 

 ready referred to, and the other fracture (C) being situated 

 below the one just mentioned. 



The reverse side of the implement, which I have not figured, 

 seems very much rougher : its shape may, perhaps, be partly 

 due to chipping, but it seems almost possible that it is an ori- 

 ginal surface ; in this case, the implement must have been 

 chipped from one of the boulders of manganese-ore so common 

 in the talus deposits lying at the foot of many of the bedded 

 manganese-ore deposits of the Central Provinces. 



On referring to the illustration, it will be seen that the 

 specimen, as seen in Fig. 1, is not symmetrical ; a portion at 

 the lower right-hand corner is missing. I cannot be certain, 

 from the character of the fracture here, whether this fracture 

 is a portion of the original surface of the boulder from which, 

 I have supposed, the specimen was prepared, or whether it is a 

 fracture made during the course of the preparation of the im- 

 plement, or shortly subsequent. It cannot, in any case, be a 

 recent fracture, for it shows as much patina as the presumed 

 outer surface of the boulder. 



From Fig. 2 it will be seen that the butt end of the im- 

 plement has also been trimmed to an edge , so that the imple- 

 ment comes under the section of sharp-rimmed implements, as 

 noticed above. On comparing my implement with those 

 figured by Sir John Evans in the book already mentioned, 1 

 find that it is most like that shown in Fig. 475 from Boscombe 

 near Bournemouth. The similarity does not lie merely in 

 the imperfection of both specimens at the lower right-hand 

 corner, but also in the shape, as seen in front view, on edge, 

 and in cross section. One point of difference, however, should 

 be noticed in this comparison, viz., that the Boscombe speci- 

 men is twice as long as my specimen, although the figures are 

 the same size. 



Although palaeolithic implements have been found made 



many 



that an implement made of manganese-ore has 

 been described. In any given area the ancient 

 med to have chosen as fine-errained a rock as 



