1894.] On the Evolution of the Art of Working in Stone. 1001 
beso. The material used is the same, and we have no ground 
for supposing that the process of manufacture was different. 
When, however, the types of one Continent are used as a criter- 
ion, by superficial resemblance alone, for determining the 
date of similar implements ftom another and distant Conti- 
nent, the conclusions arrived at can obviously be of no value 
whatever. 
I have long thought that a prominence totally undeserved 
has been given to the rule of thumb distribution that “ chipped 
— polished = palaeolithie, and chipped + polished — neo- 
lithic.” Its only virtue is its convenience and that it is easy to 
remember. But to exalt it to the dignity of a determinative 
factor is, I think, a great mistake, and I feel sure that many 
ardent collectors of stone implements cling to this accidental 
distinction as their sheet-anchor for data. The fact that pal- 
æolithic man overlooked the polishing of his implements is a 
mere accident, a subsidiary and incidental peculiarity, and 
possesses no right whatever to the importance it has attained. 
It has not the least value in determining whether an imple- 
ment is of one or the other period. The converse of the pro- - 
position does not, of course, hold good in our present state of 
knowledge. Ifa polished implement of flint be found, it can 
safely be declared non-paleolithic, for the reason that up to 
now no implement with a designedly ground surface has been 
found on a paleolithic site. It would be of the greatest service 
in this particular if some fortunate searcher could light upon 
a hoard of polished palæolithic flint tools. Then it is possible 
that the true determination of paleolithie as opposed to neo- 
lithic would obtain proper recognition; that it does not rest 
upon the slender evidence of “chipping only," but upon a far 
more solid foundation, to wit, the evidence of the bed in which 
it lies. : 
To the observer in Europe the whole question of what is 
known as palcolithie man in America seems to bein a chaotic 
state. There appear to be many reasons for this. One prin- 
cipal one is, without doubt, the unfortunate reliance upon a 
particular type of implement as a distinguishing character of 
paleolithie deposits. Granted that such a type has a deter- 
