i8 9 2-93-] 



559 



Sir William Wilde seems to think that the flake " was the 

 first attempt at a weapon, or tool of stone."* This is scarcely- 

 consistent with the fact that they are so rare in the river-gravels 

 of the Palaeolithic age. They are, it is true, comparatively 

 abundant in the cavern deposits, but their full development is 

 within Pre-historic times. 



B A 



B A 



A SIMPLE FLAKE WITHOUT SECONDARY CHIPPING. 



A. The flat face of the original core. B. The bulb of percussion, at the point where 

 the blow that dislodged the flake was struck. C. The conchoidal or shell-like 

 fracture of the face of the flake. D. Trie central ridge at the back of the 

 flake ; sometimes there are several ridges. E. The facets or planes at the 

 back of the flake divided by the ridge D. 



Simple as the flake is, in form and construction, it, no doubt, 

 marked a distinct advance in the manufacture of worked flints ; 

 and it is possible that ages passed before its applicability to the 

 variety of purposes to which it was subsequently applied was 

 appreciated by primitive man. It was, so to speak, the bye- 

 product, or refuse, of the earlier manufacture of the clumsy 

 Palaeolithic tools and weapons ; but, when its capabilities were 



* Wilde's Catalogue of Irish Antiquities. 



