546 F. C. J. SPURRELL ON THE DISCOVERY OF 



and notably one large flake was found by me, the broken ends facing 

 each other as at the moment it fell and broke ! A few small concre- 

 tions remain on the opposed faces to show that the fracture was 

 previous to the discovery and not due to an accident since. 



Single flakes may be found above and below this layer, and it 

 would therefore appear that the manufacture at this place was of 

 ,long continuance. 



^Notwithstanding that many flakes were carried to " spoil " whilst 

 I was absent, and the fall of some earth with the fear that more 

 may follow prevents my getting the whole of tiiese remains, I have 

 been able to piece many of these flakes, and to demonstrate that 

 the object sought was the manufacture of haches, which has been 

 confirmed by my digging out, on the 23rd of April last, the broad 

 end of a flint hache, in the presence of Prof. Boyd Dawkins, whom 

 I had asked to visit the place ; and later I recovered the rest of the 

 implement. 



Some of the smaller chips leave no doubt that, besides these 

 coarser operations of blocking out, very fine work indeed was 

 attempted. 



All the parent stones have been derived from those found at hand 

 and washed out of the cliff or fallen from it ; not one had been 

 rolled or dug out of the chalk by the workman, and all were slightly 

 stained by iron before being used. 



If I did not find the hammer, I found some such tool ; but such 

 pebbles as were required for the purpose could easily be obtained of 

 various qualities from the Dartford Gravel above. Pints used for 

 striking were found, however. 



The bones with which these traces of man are associated are those 

 of the brick-earth of Crayford in general, so completely described by 

 Prof. Boyd Dawkins ; but one specimen, which was found a few inches 

 over the flints, is worthy of notice, being part of the distal end of 

 the lower jaw of Rhinoceros ticJiorhinus, with four milk-teeth and 

 the thin alveolar edges of the recently shed outer incisors uncrushed. 

 The rest of that row of teeth were afterwards found about 1 8 inches 

 off the first, the ends of the jaw having been rounded. Prom the 

 body of the jaw had been extracted one uncut tooth of the coming 

 series, which lay about a foot from the last ; numerous splinters of 

 the large bones lay around, and suggested their having been broken 

 for food. 



In the second section which I have prepared (fig. 3) is shown the 

 relation of this deposit to other deposits of the same river in the im- 

 mediate neighbourhood. 



The oldest known to me is the widely spread tract of Dartford 

 Gravel (a), extending many miles on either side of the present river 

 Thames and bearing a definite relation on its northern as well as 

 its southern confines to the course of that river. It is to be found 

 resting with remarkable regularity on a level of about 98 feet above 

 the ordnance datum line, whatever stratum it may rest on, though 

 in pockets or pipes it occasionally descends lower. Its greatest 

 thickness is about 35 feet. It is irregularly stratified ; but as it 



