Knuwlks — Prehistoric Stone Implements. 211 



implements are, on the whole, more numerous than the larger kinds, and there 

 are many similar implements of sizes intermediate between the two kinds. 

 All these pointed implements have one general character in common — that 

 is their formation by coarse, irregular chipping. 



It is not easy to form an idea of how these coarse-pointed implements 

 were used. I do not think they could have been used as agricultural 

 implements of any kind, as they are seldom met with far from the banks of 

 the river ; and the banks of the Bann, subject as this river must have been 

 to periodical flooding, were not suitable for farming, if the inhabitants were 

 inclined or had knowledge to practise that industry. I think we might 

 speak with certainty of those having sharp-cutting edges. I believe they 

 were used without doubt as cutting tools. Some years ago I bought from 

 Mr. W. G. Lawrence, of Wandsworth, London, two coarse flint implements 

 from the Thames. They struck me at the time as being very like those 

 from the Bann. I have made inquiries since as to whether any other 

 implements of the same kind were found in the Thames, and have been 

 informed that some English collectors have a series of these ; but if anything 

 has been published on the subject, it has escaped my notice. They are 

 shown in figs. 89 and 92 for comparison with the Irish implements. No. 92 

 is flat on one side and highly convex on the other, that shown. It has a 

 cutting edge at the lower end of the figure. No. 89 is triangular in section 

 and pointed. 



Besides the coarsely chipped implements already brought under notice, 

 many very finely made arrow and spearheads have been found in the Bann 

 valley, the lozenge and kite-shaped kinds being the most numerous. Some of 

 these I have described and figured on more than one occasion. Hammer- 

 stones and fabricators that have been used in the manufactiire of the various 

 implements are often found, and the cores from which flakes have been struck 

 are abundant, especially small cores. Figs. 93 to 96 show four examples of 

 these small cores. They all show that they had been used for the purpose of 

 producing very small flakes. 



Besides the flint implements that have been passed in review, the Bann 

 valley and shores of Lough Neagh have yielded a large quantity of axes, 

 chisels, and various implements made of rocks of other kinds, that most used 

 being a kind of metamorphic shale, generally called clay-slate. 



Implements of Clay-slate. 

 The black rock which yields the greatest number of implements is, I 

 believe, that known as Carboniferous slate. It appears to be of nearly general 

 distribution, over Ireland. The fine axe 22 inches long in the Koyal Irish 



R.I. A. PROC, VOL. XXX., SECT, C. [29] 



