FURTHER NOTES ON CHIPPED FLINTS. 257 



many that are as deliberately worked human artifacts as any 

 ground and polished celt. It is perhaps not to be expected that 

 the best implements will be found at the place where the manu- 

 facture of them took place, as they would, it is reasonable to 

 suppose, be carried off, so that only "rejects" would remain 

 behind ; but a further search over a more extended area in the 

 vicinity of the plateau gravel is needed to ascertain how far this 

 is true. If the Neolithic men required suitable stones for 

 grooving hard wood or bone, for peeling the bark from arrow- 

 or lance-shafts, scraping skins, &c, there does not appear to be 

 any good reason why they should not have done the required 

 work on the spot. There are no high hills in the vicinity except 

 the extinct volcano Mount Popa, some twenty or more miles 

 away ; and if the stone-working men were a savage tribe living on 

 the sides of this mountain, while the plains were inhabited by 

 more civilized people, they could not have come down to the 

 river to get the material for their implements. I have three 

 ground and polished celts, kindly given to me by Mr. Berrill, 

 from Kyoukpadoung, that were found at the foot of Mount Popa, 

 and it is probable that there were Neolithic men living on Popa, 

 and using stone for their weapons, as there were on all the hills 

 round Burma, while at the same time other men lived on the 

 plains near the river, and used the chert which was found near 

 at hand. They would hardly have chosen to live inland when 

 they could live on the banks of a large river. So far the objects 

 found are all small, and there is nothing that can be definitely 

 called an offensive weapon, unless some of the specimens are 

 arrow-heads, as they certainly may be. 



The date of the stone stage of civilization must of course 

 vary very much in different localities, but it would appear to be 

 of some considerable age, even in the hills now occupied by more 

 or less wild tribes around Burma, and would certainly be older 

 in the case of peoples living on the plains. 



Ground and polished celts, axe-heads, scrapers, and other 

 objects are found in the Kachen Hills, to the north, in the Shan 

 States, in the Chin Hills, and on the Upper Chindwin, and in 

 Tenasserim in the south ; but in no instance can any of the 

 present inhabitants of these parts recognize in them the work of 

 man. Universally they are considered, as in other parts of the 



Zool 4th aer. vol. VII., July, 1903. x 



