By S. B. Dixon. 



141 



violent floods. The spot appears to have been the confluence of 

 two or three streams, which united under, or at no great distance 

 from, Knowle, and then took a south-easterly direction into the 

 Kennett Valley, near Hungerford. Above these vallies was the 

 piece of rising ground, where the gravel beds are situated, and on 

 this there was probably a very early settlement, established from 

 its contiguity to the streams which were so necessary for main- 

 taining life, and were possibly used as a means of transit In this 

 settlement many of the implements (which were for both domestic 

 and warlike purposes) would have been made, and their fresh 

 unbroken appearance and sharp edges indicate that they had had 

 but little, if any, use, and had never been moved to any distance. 

 They are almost entirely of flint, although one or two specimens 

 have been found of greensand chert. These must have been 

 brought from a distance, as no trace of chert is ever found in the 

 neighbouring greensand of the Pewsey Vale. It is a substance 

 not uncommonly used for stone implements, those found near 

 Axminster being entirely formed of that material. No unworked 

 chert is found with the gravels, but there are occasionally small 

 pieces of sarsen stone, and the gravels bear evidence throughout of 

 having a purely local origin. The question naturally arises, From 

 what- source did the water come that excavated these vallies, as 

 the whole is now a waterless district ? As already mentioned, 

 to the south-west are the high chalk downs which terminate in 

 Martinsell Hill (nearly 1000 feet above sea level) and which form 

 the northern boundary of the Pewsey Vale. The whole drainage 

 of these chalk hills now discharges itself into this broad open valley, 

 but at an earlier date it is very probable that such was not the 

 case. The valley was then a mass of trees and jungle with no 

 drainage, entirely different from its present configuration, and as 

 the water would not have the same facilities of getting off in that 

 direction it would look for outlets in other places. The chalk, too, 

 would have been covered with a thick bed of clay- with -flints, of 

 which there are still remains, which would have prevented the 

 water from percolating through. The springs would then have 

 worked out at a much higher level and above the district in which 

 VOL. XXXII. — NO. C. L 



