﻿PALEOLITHIC 
  FLINT 
  IMPLEMENTS 
  IN 
  KENT. 
  291 
  

  

  affords, 
  however, 
  better 
  evidence 
  of 
  glacial 
  action. 
  This 
  gravel, 
  which 
  

   consists 
  in 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  perfectly 
  angular 
  and 
  unrolled 
  white 
  flints, 
  

   with 
  a 
  few 
  Tertiary 
  pebbles, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  with 
  fragments 
  of 
  chert, 
  

   is 
  unstratified, 
  and 
  looks 
  as 
  though 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  forced 
  down, 
  irregu- 
  

   larly 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  into 
  the 
  underlying 
  Gault, 
  by 
  pressure 
  from 
  above. 
  

   The 
  flints 
  are 
  often 
  pitted 
  or 
  pock-marked. 
  The 
  section, 
  however, 
  

   at 
  Park-Farm 
  brick-pit 
  is 
  small 
  and 
  insufficient. 
  This 
  gravel 
  is 
  

   better 
  developed 
  and 
  possesses 
  more 
  distinctive 
  characters 
  in 
  other 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  Holmesdale 
  valley, 
  and 
  I 
  will 
  therefore 
  reserve 
  the 
  fuller 
  

   account 
  of 
  it 
  to 
  a 
  future 
  occasion, 
  when 
  I 
  shall 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  give 
  more 
  

   definite 
  reasons 
  for 
  its 
  origin. 
  

  

  I 
  showed 
  *, 
  many 
  years 
  ago, 
  that 
  the 
  great 
  trough 
  or 
  valley 
  of 
  

   Holmesdale, 
  in 
  which 
  this 
  drift 
  has 
  been 
  deposited, 
  is 
  of 
  more 
  

   recent 
  date 
  than 
  the 
  extensive 
  spread 
  of 
  " 
  red 
  clay 
  with 
  flints 
  " 
  

   which 
  lies 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  chalk 
  hills. 
  Consequently 
  the 
  brown- 
  

   stained 
  flint- 
  drift, 
  which 
  has 
  now 
  been 
  traced 
  to 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  

   escarpment, 
  where, 
  like 
  the 
  red 
  clay, 
  it 
  suddenly 
  ends, 
  together 
  

   probably 
  with 
  the 
  associated 
  rude 
  flint 
  implements, 
  must 
  also 
  be 
  of 
  

   older 
  date 
  than 
  the 
  valley, 
  and 
  therefore 
  anterior 
  to 
  the 
  Postglacial 
  

   "river-drifts" 
  of 
  these 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  Medway 
  and 
  the 
  Thames 
  

   valleys, 
  which 
  lie 
  in 
  them. 
  I 
  have 
  also 
  shown 
  f 
  that 
  there 
  has 
  been, 
  

   at 
  a 
  time 
  probably 
  before 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  drift 
  or 
  Boulder-clay 
  

   series, 
  a 
  drift 
  from 
  the 
  south 
  which 
  carried 
  the 
  chert 
  and 
  ragstone 
  of 
  

   the 
  Lower 
  Greensand 
  across 
  the 
  chalk-escarpment 
  into 
  the 
  Thames 
  

   valley 
  — 
  not 
  in 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  river-valleys, 
  but 
  traversing 
  

   the 
  high 
  chalk 
  plain, 
  and 
  capping 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  higher 
  

   hills 
  in 
  the 
  London 
  basin. 
  Still 
  it 
  seems 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  universally 
  

   distributed, 
  but 
  to 
  keep 
  to 
  certain 
  lines, 
  springing 
  from 
  the 
  lower, 
  

   but 
  still 
  high, 
  points 
  or 
  gaps 
  in 
  the 
  chalk-escarpment 
  J. 
  Amongst 
  

   the 
  drift-capped 
  hills 
  of 
  the 
  Thames 
  valley 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  Swanscombe 
  

   Wood, 
  51 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  Ash, 
  and 
  306 
  ft. 
  § 
  above 
  J). 
  It 
  consists 
  

   of 
  an 
  outlier 
  of 
  London 
  Clay, 
  with 
  a 
  capping 
  of 
  this 
  southern 
  drift, 
  

   which 
  there 
  consists, 
  according 
  to 
  a 
  note 
  I 
  made 
  some 
  years 
  ago 
  

   of 
  a 
  small 
  shallow 
  section 
  then 
  existing 
  by 
  the 
  Old 
  Telegraph, 
  of 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  Tertiary 
  flint 
  pebbles 
  (Woolwich 
  beds). 
  

   Subangular 
  fragments 
  of 
  brown 
  chert 
  ... 
  1 
  

  

  „ 
  „ 
  of 
  bright 
  red 
  chert 
  > 
  Lower 
  Greensand. 
  

  

  ,, 
  „ 
  of 
  yellow 
  ragstone 
  J 
  

  

  Subangular 
  flints, 
  not 
  coloured. 
  

  

  Flints, 
  much 
  rolled 
  and 
  worn 
  and 
  stained 
  deep 
  brown. 
  

   Green-coated 
  flints 
  (Thanet 
  Sands). 
  

  

  The 
  above 
  are 
  placed 
  in 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  their 
  relative 
  abundance. 
  

   The 
  brown 
  and 
  red 
  cherts 
  are 
  from 
  the 
  Lower 
  Greensand 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  * 
  "On 
  the 
  Origin 
  of 
  the 
  Sand 
  and 
  Gravel 
  Pipes 
  in 
  the 
  Chalk," 
  &c, 
  Quart. 
  

   Journ. 
  Geol. 
  Soc. 
  vol. 
  xi. 
  p. 
  73 
  (1854). 
  

  

  t 
  Eeports 
  Brit. 
  Assoc. 
  York, 
  1881, 
  p. 
  621. 
  

  

  I 
  Thus 
  far 
  this 
  brown 
  flint-drift 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  generally 
  associated 
  with 
  rude 
  

   flint 
  implements 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  inquiry 
  is 
  yet 
  new 
  and 
  needs 
  more 
  extended 
  obser- 
  

   vations. 
  

  

  § 
  This 
  is 
  220 
  ft. 
  above 
  the 
  high-level 
  terrace 
  of 
  implement-bearing 
  river- 
  

   gravel 
  at 
  Swanscombe. 
  

  

  