MAN AND THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 
67 
PERCY F. KENDALL. M.SC., F.G.S. 
In the January number of Man, Mr. H. J. E. Peake adds 
one more to the many attempts to synchronise the stages of 
culture of the Older and Newer Stone Ages with the phases of 
the Ice Age, and if, like all his predecessors, he has failed of 
complete success, it may, perhaps, be that the problem is one 
incapable of solution by any one man. The equipment of 
knowledge that would be required for a successful essay seems 
to consist of three parts— first, a thorough familiarity with 
British Glacial Geology, not merely in one or two districts, 
but over a very wide and varied range of country, especially 
in the east of England, from the North Downs to the Scottish 
Border ; second, a first-hand knowledge of the occurrences 
and characteristics of relics of Palaeolithic Man ; and, third, 
a sound and particularly comprehensive knowledge of the 
distribution of the Pleistocene Mammalia, whether associated 
with implements of human manufacture or not. 
It may safely be affirmed that such knowledge and experi- 
ence is not possessed by any single British geologist or anthro- 
pologist to-day, and it is permissible to doubt whether any 
two of the essential qualifications exist in combination. It 
might even be thought that the vast range and magnitude of 
at least two of the three would forbid all hope of a solution 
of the problem, but happily the task, too great for one, may 
be accomplished by two or more in collaboration, and the 
proposal to hold a joint meeting of the Geological and An- 
thropological Sections of the British Association at Hull 
suggests one way out of the impasse. When we contemplate 
the magnitude and variety of the topics to be discussed, and 
the number and enthusiasm of the probable contributors to 
the discussions, and the great diversity of opinions that 
prevails, it might be apprehended that the debate would be 
as protracted and almost as animated as a recent political 
logomachy on the same parallel of latitude. Some limitation 
in the area brought under discussion will be helpful in reducing 
the subject to manageable proportions, and another proposition 
to the same end is that certain intending participants should 
be invited to put a succinct statement of their views into 
tabular form as wall-diagrams. This would manifestly be a 
convenient and time-saving expedient ; the speakers’ views 
would be put and kept clearly before the audience, and much 
oral exposition would be obviated. 
Mr. Peake, who will preside over the Anthropological 
Section, gives us, in the journal mentioned above, very much 
such a table as we want, and it usefully illustrates the im- 
perative need for a joint action. The column, for example, in 
which the sequence of English deposits is given ‘ After Marr 
and Kennard (revised),’ mentions, apart from ' Cromer 
1 922 Feb. 1 
