BY THE EEV. W. HOWCHIN^, F.G.S. 219 



A clear stream of running water occupies the depression between 

 the two hills, ; the subsoil is sandy and dry, whilst the great 

 elevation commands an outlook that takes in all the surrounding 

 country. The two vales of the Allen that run on the eastern 

 and western flanks converge into one on the northern side, whilst 

 the transverse valley of the Tyne can be followed by the eye for 

 many miles, together with an immense stretch of high land fur- 

 ther to the north. Here are then all the conditions which we 

 may suppose would regulate a rude and nomadic people in the 

 chT)ice of a temporary settlement : a dry situation, the proximity 

 of water, and a good outlook coupled with some degree of shelter. 

 It would be very interesting if we could determine the sources 

 from whence these ' ' old folk ' ' obtained the raw material for 

 their various implements. The hill top in question is capped 

 with the Millstone Grit beds ; and in descending order, the Yore- 

 dale or Upper-Carboniferous Limestone series occupy the lower 

 parts of the valley. JSTone of the substances referred to in 

 this paper (unless it be the greenstone) can be considered purely 

 local.*' Greenstone occurs in the surrounding district in the form 

 of dykes, ''the great Whinsill," and as boulders in almost every 

 section of Glacial clay. We may therefore reasonably conclude 

 that the implements of this material were constructed from stones 

 gathered from some of these sources, at no great distance from 

 the site where they were picked up. A close comparison, how- 

 ever, with these local varieties of trap is rendered almost im- 

 possible, in consequence of the very considerable oxidation or 

 crust, which covers the articles through long exposure to the 

 weather. Chert, so far as the writer is aware, is only found in 

 the district associated with the well-known limestone bed, which, 

 in the local classification, is called the Four-fathom Limestone. 



* Since writing the above I have piclccd up a few small rolled (lints amongst the gravels 

 on Plenmellor Fell, at the respective heights of 500 feet and 755 feet above sea level, or 

 140 feet and 390 feet above the existing river level. Mr. R. llownc has also kindly called 

 my attention to a bed containing flints that can be seen at the mouth of the Tync. These 

 flints are always angular, and are scattered sparingly through a bed of bluish clay, rest- 

 ing upon true Boulder-clay. (See Synopsis of the Gcol. of Durham and Northumberland, 

 p. 7.) Whether these slight indications of flint in our district ought to load us to the t-on- 

 clusion that the implements made of this material, and scattered so generally over our hill 

 sides, were obtained from such limited sources, is open to serious doubt. 



