On Neolithic Flints bclovj the present surface at Dinton. 87 



lying within a small area. In the rest of the field, though I paced 

 it over very carefully, I did not find one. On considering the 

 matter I remembered that these flakes occurred in a strip which 

 the farmer had given to his men to grow their potatoes on, and 

 therefore had been spade-dug some inches deeper than the rest of 

 the field. 



Out of a very much larger number I have selected some two 

 hundred flakes from the four-and-a-half acres mentioned, quite 

 two-thirds being from the most deeply-dug strip. And we 

 found well over a hundred of these last autumn, because I have 

 only lately given special attention to the matter and taught my 

 men to distinguish and collect these flints. Whenever we plant 

 or lift a fruit tree, put in a gatepost, or in any way touch the 

 ordinarily undisturbed subsoil, we are almost sure to find one or 

 more. 



It is, therefore, clear to me, that by our deep cultivation — ex- 

 ceptional in the valley — we touch upon the original gitc of these 

 tools, which, I think, lie in their original gite very much more 

 thickly than is usually supposed. What are ordinarily found on 

 . the surface are only the small percentage brought up by earth- 

 worms, burrowing animals, draining, &c, &c. It is curious that 

 this consideration of the ancient surface on which such implements 

 must for the most part lie does not seem at all dwelt upon in 

 Evans' and other books on the subject. 



We have, so far, found no flints either wholly or partially ground ; 

 all are chipped tools or flakes. They are mostly rough, but oc- 

 casionally a nicely-worked knife or arrow-head is found and many 

 carefully shaped " scrapers." Their patina is very noticeable, so 

 that by their smooth appearance and feel even the roughest can be 

 distinguished from natural flakes, and all from implements such as 

 are ordinarily found on the surface. 



I thought at first that there might have been some hut- 

 settlement within the area of my field. I find, however, no pottery, 

 pot-boilers, or other remains indicative of habitation, and now 

 feel tolerably sure that the flints were dropped by people ranging 

 along the valley side where it shelved up from the flat river 



