PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 155 



cave which may have existed and afforded shelter in those 

 most ancient times. 



Though we have no conclusive evidence of the existence 

 of Paleolithic man in our island, we have abundant proof of 

 the presence of the man of the Neolithic or New-stone age. 



It is undecided what race of man built those ancient 

 stone monuments, the Cromlechs, and erected the Menhirs, 

 but archaeologists agree that they belong to this period of 

 the world's history. Let us see what evidence we can glean 

 from an examination of these structures. The Cromlech 

 builders lived after the surface of the island had assumed its 

 present contour, though it may have been considerably larger, 

 especially towards the West, North and East. The clay 

 deposits had been laid down, for they dug into them to secure 

 a foundation for their work. Mr. Lukis, in his paper read 

 before the Society of Antiquaries in 1853, says* "Round 

 the base of one (the Menhir, near the Paysan) in Guernsey 

 was a flat floor . . . . in a matrix of hardened clay. At 

 L'Ancresse Great Cromlechf The different layers of 

 urns, &c, are separated by a quantity of limpet shells . . . 

 and a little yellow clay strewn upon the original deposit ! 

 Again, % " Nothing was found with the urns, excepting the 

 limpet shells and yellow clay in which they were embedded ! " 



Whether the cromlech builders lived before or after the 

 deposition of the peat we will discuss later, but one formation 

 is more recent than their erection, viz., the blown sand, for it 

 drifted into and filled all the upper part of the Great 

 Cromlech, and buried it out of sight. It is still being formed 

 in some parts of the island, and is therefore the most recent 

 of the superficial deposits. The pottery and ornaments found 

 in the first and in all stages of the Great Cromlech belong 

 to the Neolithic age ; the animals whose bones are found 

 there are those introduced with Neolithic man ; the imple- 

 ments, too, are Neolithic. 



After the cromlech had been erected, centuries must 

 have elapsed during which it continued to serve its original 

 purpose. Mr. Lukis says : " Time and ages elapsed before 

 the loiver floor being covered, the remains originally deposited 

 were removed to make room for others"; then those removed 

 were placed between the props, and afterwards new urns and 

 bones gradually covered it again ; then this stratum was 

 covered over wtth a layer of limpet shells mixed with a little 

 clay, over which flat stones were placed, and subsequently the 

 new floor was covered in a ; similar manner. Later, "The area 



* P. 236. t P. 244. t P. ^# 



