The Flint Tools of North Devon. 353 



ten miles, is well known to geologists from the raised beach, 

 which extends for a considerable distance along its coast, at a 

 height of nearly 40 feet above the present level of the sea. It 

 has been described by Sir H. de la Beche, and has at different 

 times formed the subject for two or three papers to the Geo- 

 logical Society. Drift beds 16 feet thick occur in several 

 places, mixed up with the raised beach • but as both formations 

 are at the same level, and of nearly the same thickness, they 

 are never visible together to their full extent in any one 

 section, one always takes the place of the other, either alto- 

 gether or in part. In one place where the raised beach is 

 entirely wanting*, and the drift occurs at its full thickness, I 

 have found lying immediately on top of it, rude flint imple- 

 ments in great numbers, associated with calcined flints, rough 

 sun-dried pottery, and a chipped stone hatchet. The majority 

 of the " tools " are only flakes, or futile attempts to produce 

 three definite forms, amongst which knives and arrow-heads 

 appear to be the favourite shapes ; and although the flint em- 

 ployed must have come from a considerable distance, chippings 

 of the material are associated in such profusion with the tools 

 as to imply that there must formerly have been a manu- 

 factory of implements on the spot. They are covered with 

 from 3 to 3j feet of compact and undisturbed alluvial 

 soil, of which the six or eight inches next the drift, and 

 enclosing by far the largest proportion of flints, is a layer of 

 black earth, forming a great contrast to the reddish colour of 

 the ordinary soil. One peculiarity of their geographical situa- 

 tion must not be left unnoticed. They are found near the 

 mouth of a transverse valley, where there is a small flat space 

 about 200 yards square, sheltered completely from the north 

 by a range of hills, and more or less also from the east and 

 west. A small stream of fresh water flows down the bottom 

 of the ravine, all conducing to render the spot suitable in the 

 estimation of savages for the site of an encampment. Over 

 most of this flat area flakes (many of them carefully chipped) 

 appear to be scattered, but in some places they occur much 

 more abundantly than in others. Amongst the large quantity 

 of these flints found at different times by myself in this one 

 locality, there is a great gradation, not only in the size, but in 

 the form of those which must be included under the name of 

 " arrow-heads and knives." A reference to the accompanying 

 Plates will show that many of the tools bear unmistakable 

 signs of having been chipped into shape with the greatest 

 care, and those of our readers who are acquainted with the 

 unrivalled collection of M. Boucher de Perthes, at Abbeville, 

 and the new Amiens Museum, will recognize the close affinity 

 between the tc tools" from Baggy Point and some of the 



VOL. VIII. — NO. V. A A 



