364 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



three are of black carboniferous chert. These and other small scrapers 

 from various sites were found associated with larger flint implements. 

 It will he observed that some other explorers have had similar expe- 

 rience in finding large and small implements together. I believe that 

 the small tools of all kinds which I have described must have been 

 implements of the JSTeolithic people, but until a comparatively late 

 period they were neglected and overlooked. They extend back to the 

 later stages of the Palseolithic Age, and it is possible they may have 

 continued later than IN'eolithic times I show at ISTo. YIII., fig. 62, two 

 views of a small flake from Portstewart, one of many small flakes found 

 there, and at Grangemore, which I should say were pui-posely produced 

 for making into small borers. 



I have an idea that some of the geometrical forms may have been 

 produced by the endeavour to restore a point to a long fine implement 

 when broken. Suppose a longish knife or borer of the outline shown in 

 fig. 53 or 54, got broken at the point, the easiest way to form a new 

 point would be by dressing it in a sloped manner fi'om one side to the 

 other, say along the line a h. We would then have a figure similar to 

 those shown in 35 and 42. If both points got broken it might be 

 mended along the lines c d and ^ / of fig. 54. A little variation of 

 these lines would give the different three and four sided figures some- 

 times seen among these small implements. The line of mending may 

 take the form of a curve instead of a straight line, thus forming 

 crescents. 



I understand that some antiquaries hold the opinion that the small 

 implements of various kinds have been produced and used by a race of 

 dwarfs, and in a newspaper cutting, which was sent me a short time 

 ago, a theory was suggested by another gentleman that they were used 

 like coins as a medium of barter. 



The MANtrFACTHRE of Implements. 



The finding of chipped and broken stone axes at Fishersti'eet, 

 county Clare, and also of rude partially manuf actui'ed implements at 

 Dundrum, county Down, suggests a comparison of the mode of manu- 

 facturing stone implements in Ireland with that followed in other 

 countries. 



The places mentioned above ai'e not the only sites which have 

 supplied instruction on this subject. There are several other places in 

 Antrim, not referred to in this report, which have also yielded chipped 

 axes, broken specimens, failui'es, and hammer-stones, all in association 



