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animals. On this point, therefore, no evidence could be 
more conclusive. 
It has, however, been suggested that though the worked 
flints are really found by the workmen in the mammaliferous 
gravel, they may perhaps be comparatively recent, and have 
gradually inserted themselves from above by the force of 
gravity. A few minutes' inspection, however, of the beds 
containing and overlying the flint implements of the Somme 
will assure any observer that they are entirely destitute of 
the imagined crevices, and are moreover altogether too 
compact and immovable to admit of any such insinuation 
or percolation of surface objects. Taking all these circum- 
stances into consideration, it cannot be doubted that the flint 
implements really belong to the same age as the sands and 
gravels in which they occur. 
Perhaps the most striking peculiarity of these weapons is, 
that they are never polished, not a single specimen having 
presented a trace of grinding ; while, on the other hand, the 
implements of the later stone period, those which occur in 
burial-places, river beds, &c, are always carefully polished. 
As regards their form, they are grouped by Mr. Evans 
under three heads : — 
1. Flint flakes, apparently intended for arrowheads or 
knives. 
2. Pointed weapons, analogous to lance or spear heads. 
3. Oval or almond-shaped implements, presenting a cutting 
edge all round. 
The flakes offer no special peculiarities, and similar articles 
have been used by savages in all ages and coimtries, where 
flint or obsidian was obtainable. The implements of the 
other two forms, which, however, pass almost imperceptibly 
into one another, are on the contrary quite unlike any of 
those belonging to the last or polished stone-period. The 
nearest approach to them is made by the small and rude 
