EARLY MAN 
as were left in limestone caves, by thick coatings of stalagmite, and for 
a considerable encroachment of the sea owing to the gradual depression 
of the land between Britain, France, Germany, Denmark and Scandi- 
navia. 
The paleolithic and neolithic ages were probably continuous in 
southern Europe, northern Africa and in Asia; the local break in Britain 
being caused by the depression of the land and its isolation from the 
continent of Europe. The general contour of the country and its river 
drainage was much the same in neolithic times as now. 
Neolithic man probably arrived in Britain across the Straits of 
Dover by means of rude canoes formed of tree trunks hollowed out by 
fire, or on rafts, but the actual date of his arrival is unknown. He 
came long before the introduction of bronze. Sir John Evans states 
that cutting tools of stone began to be superseded in this country 500 
or 600 years B.c.. He probably migrated to this country from the east 
or south-east, from lands that were the native homes of some of the 
quadrupeds he brought with him, viz. from the central plateau of Asia. 
In this position domestic animals had been for long ages under the 
dominion of man. This conclusion as to the place from which neolithic 
man started is confirmed by the seeds he brought with him and planted, 
such as wheat, barley, culinary peas, etc. 
The land at the beginning of the neolithic period consisted of thick 
virgin forest, bush and bog ; there were probably few men and consequently 
no roads or trackways. The climate was wet, more hot in summer and more 
cold in winter than now. The exposed heights, such as the chalk hills 
of Bedfordshire, were probably covered with bush. The lowlands were 
forest and swamp. ‘The neolithic folk in course of time occupied all 
parts of Great Britain. They were Iberians, a long-headed race which 
dominated northern and western Spain and gave the ancient name of 
Iberia to what is now Spain and Portugal. They were the Silures of 
Tacitus, the men who erected cromlechs, made avenues or alignments of 
unhewn stones, threw up long tumuli or barrows, and in places where 
large stones occurred constructed chambered tumuli and erected circles of 
large stones. 
There is what appears to be a remarkable long barrow on Dunstable 
Downs near Pascombe Pit, but its age must remain uncertain till it has 
been opened and the contents examined. On the northern base of Dun- 
stable Downs and on the northern side of the Icknield Way a consider- 
able number of interments are reported to have been disturbed in 1784. 
These, at the time, were considered to be comparatively modern, and to 
represent the people of Dunstable who had died of the plague in 1603 
and 1625. The remains of a long barrow standing east and west still 
exist in a mutilated state in Union Street, Dunstable. Fifty years ago 
this barrow was very distinct and was called Mill-bank, from its former 
use as a foundation for a windmill. Two hundred yards to the east was 
1 Sir John Evans, Ancient Stone Implements, ed. 2, p. 147. 
159 
