in the Drift of the Valley of the Avon. 



231 



edge, so as easily to scrape off the subcutaneous fat they were pro- 

 bably intended to remove. It is interesting to note that this 

 peculiar shape of skin-scraper may be traced down to a much 

 later period — they occur amongst the worked flints from the sur- 

 face at Yorkshire and other parts of England, examples of which 

 may be seen in the Blackmore Museum. The implements hitherto 

 found in the drift (disregarding the flakes), have been classed by 

 Mr. Evans under two heads, viz. ; the pointed or spear-head form, 

 and the oval. The first class is of an elongated, somewhat spear- 

 head shape, and naturally falls into two sub-divisions. 



a. Those having one end either unvvorked or purposely trimmed 

 into a thick butt, giving in fact a pear-shaped form. In some cases 

 a smooth rounded nodule of flint has been selected and the original 

 crust carefully preserved ; in other instances the same want has 

 been admirably supplied by a well worn Eocene pebble. These 

 specimens were in all probability used in the hand unmounted, 

 whilst the spear-head type would have been much more useful 

 when attached to the end of a stout stick. 



B. Those chipped rather thin at the less pointed extremity : a 

 form which often gradually passes into the oval type. 



In the second class the flints are usually thin, convex on both 

 sides, and chipped to a tolerable cutting edge all round: this type 

 and the broad worked flakes, are more characteristic of the low 

 than of the high level gravels. 



It must not be supposed that these types are always distinct and 

 well defined ; much appears to have depended upon the natural 

 form and adaptability of the flint selected, much doubtless to the 

 purpose each was intended to serve. 



The weapons and tools of Sir John Lubbock's " neolithic " or later 

 stone period, although often manufactured from flint, are more 

 frequently made from various other hard stones of the localities in 

 which they occur, such as Syenite, greenstone, clay-slate, &c. ; 

 this however is not the case with the drift implements, which are 

 almost without exception, made from flints derived directly from 

 the chalk. Milford Hill has proved a slight exception to this 

 general rule, a small oval specimen from this locality being com- 



