Knowlics — Prehistoric Stone Implements. 197 



to the Academy. Since then the digging up of the diatomaceous clay at 

 different places along the river has hronght to light a large quantity of flint 

 and other implements. Numbers of implements and flakes have been washed 

 out on the shores of Lough Neagh near Toome, and the waters of the lake 

 being shallow, antiquaries have obtained large collections by wading and 

 picking up the objects, which were visible on the shallow bottom. 

 Sir John Evans obtained many things in this way. I remember going 

 with our little band of Ballymena antiquaries, including Canon Grainger, 

 Rev. Dr. Buick, and seven or eight others, to Toome, and divesting ourselves 

 of boots and stockings to wade along the shores of the lake, and coming home 

 laden with miscellaneous collections of implements. The summer of 1911 

 was a very dry one, and the waters of the lake were low and favourable for 

 wading. I therefore visited Toome with several members of my family, and 

 by wading we found some characteristic implements. Eev. W. A. Adams 

 searched the shores of Lough Neagh near Antrim in the same season, and 

 made some very good finds, including a bronze axe. 



'I'he Eiver Bann is noted for its abundance of salmon and other kinds of 

 fish, aud there is reason to believe that the prospect of a good supply of food 

 was one main inducement for the prehistoric people to settle along its banks. 

 Flakes for knives and spears must have been in continual demand, and 

 therefore they were produced in abundance and of all sizes, from those of 6 

 and 7 inches in length to the most tiny flakes, many of which have been 

 manufactured into small knives, borers, and scraping tools. Many of these 

 flakes and other implements have been found in the bed of the Bann, but 

 more by digging up the surface of the river's banks. How so many implements 

 got into the bed of the Bann may be a question that should be considered. 

 In cutting of fords and deepening the bed of the Bann stone implements have 

 been found lying in a layer above that containing bronze weapons, and 

 therefore it is considered that the theory of there being a Stone Age succeeded 

 by a Bronze Age is incorrect ; but when everything is fairly weighed and 

 considered it will be found that the position of objects deposited in fords of a 

 river is not proof of succeeding ages of culture. The banks of the river are 

 being continually denuded, and objects contained in the denuded portions 

 would be redistribixted by the running water and the newest object perhaps 

 dropped first, and something older on top of that, and so on. During fishing 

 and other operations many implements might be dropped into the river and 

 lost, but the greater quantity obtained from the bed of the Bann came, I 

 believe, from the denudation of the banks of the river. 



The digging up of the diatomaceous clay at Culbane for brick-making has 

 yielded abundant material for local collectors of antiquities. Eev. Dr. Buick 



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