The Flint Tools of North Devon. 355 



Fragments of flint, showing conchoidal frac- 

 ture on one side, and the external coating 



or crust of the nodule on the other ... 34 92 



Calcined cores and flakes . 30 81 



Whole flint nodules 3 9 



Total 366 1000 



Let us now analyse the facts of the case. In the first place, 

 flint is not found naturally in that part of North Devon, as 

 there is no chalk nearer than seventy miles, and green sand 

 with flint occurs only in two fields at Orleigh Court, in the 

 parish of Buckland Brewer, distant from Baggy Point thirteen 

 miles in a direct line, of which four are across a portion of 

 Barnstaple Bay. Supposing, then, a manufactory of weapons 

 existed at Baggy, it is evident that the raw material neces- 

 sary for the formation of the tools must have been brought 

 either by sea or land a considerable distance for that 

 express purpose. 



Secondly, the presence of calcined . flint is of great 

 importance as a proof of human handiwork. Everybody 

 knows that flint splits naturally with what mineralogists term 

 a conchoidal, or shell-like fracture — in fact, the same kind 

 of fracture that may be seen in broken bottle glass, or in 

 obsidian ; but flint, as soon as it is subjected to the action of 

 fire, immediately loses the conchoidal, and assumes a hackly 

 fracture, when it becomes perfectly impossible to split or chip 

 it into any shape or form. Many out of the thirty calcined 

 flints have flat surfaces and facets, showing a conchoidal frac- 

 ture ; and this circumstance, therefore, affords conclusive 

 evidence that their shape was received by splitting and chipping, 

 before they were subjected to the action of fire.* 



Lastly, the evidence of the pottery and stone weapon. 

 The former consists of three fragments, just sufficient to 

 identify as having originally belonged to an urn, or some ves- 

 sel of similar shape, which, when perfect, must have been 8-i- 

 inches in diameter. One of the portions contains a small pro- 

 jection, evidently intended to serve as a handle. Bits of quartz 

 have been worked up with the clay, so as to give it greater 

 consistency. It is fashioned rudely by the hand, sun-baked, 

 and totally destitute of any attempt at ornamentation. 



With regard to the artificial character of the stone " hatchet," 

 I can speak less positively. It is made of very hard sand- 

 stone, and certainly bears the appearance of rough chipping, 

 whilst one side shows traces of the action of fire. Still, as this 



* So completely is the texture of the flint altered by the calcination it has 

 Undergone, that small cracks or fissures traverse the flakes from one side to the 

 other, and its specific gravity is reduced from 2' 54 to 2*4. 



