TRUE AND FALSE FLINT WEAPONS. 
33 
number as they near us in time, 30,000 being found in one 
Belgian cave associated with human bones. But through all 
this long period there is no progressive improvement in their 
make, no recognisable attempt at superior finishing. They are 
of the same type, fracture, and rudeness of form throughout. 
Are these flint flakes implements made by man ? Are they the 
refuse chips of ancient manufactories ? Or have they been 
formed by natural causes, and some of them selected and 
adapted for use by man ? 
A first glance at a pile of indiscriminately collected flakes 
does not impress the mind with the conviction of their human 
manufacture, and it is with a feeling somewhat akin to surprise 
to hear their paternity so strongly asserted. Sir Charles Lyell, 
quoting Mr. Evans, observes “ that there is a uniformity of 
shape, a correctness of outline, and a sharpness about the cut- 
ting edges and points which cannot be due to anything but 
design.” * And Sir John Lubbock says : “ A flint flake is to 
the antiquary as sure a trace of man as the footprint in the 
sand was to Kobinson Crusoe.” f 
From an extensive examination of the flakes themselves, and 
of their geological position, from Cornwall to Norfolk, in 
Belgium, and in France, I have obtained sufficient evidence to 
compel me to adopt the contrary opinion ; and it will lead to a 
clearer understanding of the subject if this evidence be put as 
a direct argument to prove their geological position and origin. 
Their Geographical Distribution has an evident Relation to 
Geological Structure. 
The north of Ireland has a substratum, of chalk which appears 
to occupy but a very small area on a geological map ; it encircles 
Antrim with a wavy band like a green ribbon. But it is, in 
fact, the outcrop of a wide-spread formation, which has been 
disrupted by ancient volcanic action, and now lies buried under 
enormous masses of basalt. The chalk had suffered great denu- 
dation before the volcanic matter w^as ejected, and a stratum of 
flints, left on its surface, has since been covered by molten lava, 
converting the chalk into hard white limestone, and baking and 
fracturing the flints. The ruin of the chalk has been swept 
southward, and the valleys and lowlands have been loaded with 
drift, conspicuous among which are shattered flints and an 
abundance of flakes. At Toome, on Lough Neagh, they are 
found in large quantities on the bar when the water of the lake 
is low; and they are scattered along the course of the river 
Bann downw'ards to the sea. The drift has been swept over 
* Antiquity of Man,*’ p. 117. t Preliistoric Times,” p. 67. 
VOL. VI II.— NO. XXX. D 
