Palæolithic Implements found in West Kent

( 89 ) PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS EOUND IN WEST KENT. BY ELAXMAN C. J. SPTJRRELL. EOR so long a period has the eastern part of the county of Kent monopolized the attention given to stone implements of ancient man, of the oldest date, that it is full time the western half were examined. It is quite as rich in finds of importance, and perhaps, up to the present, even more suggestive as to the meaning afforded by these finds. Erom the nature of the ground on and in which the implements to be described occur, it will be seen that their elevation relatively to each other is of great importance. Their actual elevation above the present sea level, though interesting, is chiefly so because it is by measurement from this point that we are able to obtain the relative levels. Eor this purpose the Ordnance datum is the actual startingpoint, and in this paper the figures after O. D. will represent these levels in feet. I t will be obvious that implements always gravitate to lower levels. On the highest points of ground of our district they may be expected to occur; and at all intervening elevations, down to the deepest hollows of the sea about the coasts of this part of England. Eespecting implements found on the surface, which are in process of degradation, there is no point of greater value than their relative level; since, though all kinds and types may be expected to be gathered together in the lowest places, none can get to higher ones. As a means of classification, the level is applicable to all finds; while geological and palseontological evidence is less easily employed. In conjunction with this there is another point to be considered. Though many implements are much worn at edges and smoothed, by travelling in company with other 90 PALAEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS stones at the bottom of streams, there are some which may be called "land " in contradistinction to "river " implements, which are not so worn, and perhaps never had a home in the gravelly, bed of a permanent river, were never tossed on a stormy seashore. With these latter may be included implements which are buried under silt, without having been moved from the places where they were last dropped by man; as, for instance, on a tidal foreshore; while together with them may be classed implements which have got as far as the edge of a stream, and rested there in the mud and peat. Besides all these considerations, there is another means by which their physical condition is affected. This has very frequently left such marks as may be detected by those who have studied the subject carefully, even in specimens whose precise position is unknown to them. I mean the polishing, and peculiar breaking up, which they underwent when pushed about subterraneously, under the influence of masses of ice and snow, or when involved in land ice and surface soil (the " warp " of Mr. Trimmer, and the " t rai l " of Eev. 0. Eisher). This scouring and grinding which formed the warp and trail, may in the higher regions have occurred again and again, and must have been the cause of much of the degradation from which surface deposits containing implements, whether land or fluviatile, have suffered. Doubtless land ice, and snow of great thickness, sliding in half-thawed masses, was a very common event or condition on the highlands south of the Thames (at least), extending over a very long period of time; but as each bout of glaciation tore away and stripped off previous marks of its effect, it is extremely difficult to say how many times it occurred, which was however certainly twice. Though this glaciation. may have frequently occurred, it is only the resulting "warp" of that which happened after all the existing features of the country were formed, that we have now to deal with, or can discover. When implements or their parts are recovered from the warp, or debris left by this glaciation, we know that it must have been the result of its latest return; and this helps us to give a truer POUND IN WEST KENT. 91 account of them than of those which have, it may be, passed through the process, and afterwards been washed out into river beds again. Mr. B. Harrison has found implements and portions, broken into fragments, whose parts have been barely separated from each other; while others were many inches apart: they all have clean fractures. I t is necessary to recall the fact that the whole surface of Kent has, at times, been scoured and washed by streams since it was abandoned by the ocean; and many changes have occurred in their directions since they, assisted by other events, cleared away the soil and lowered their beds; though always flowing from the centre of the Weald outwards. In the particular case of " the Old Darenth," a remnant of its former bed may be still detected,—it is the upper level of the Basted Valley; a name preferable for my purposes to that of the Plaxtol Brook Valley (now included in the Medway Basin). This trace of the old river bed of the Darenth begins near the village of Plaxtol, whence eastward it is from one and a half to two miles wide. Its course extended northward to Ightham, round the corner occupied by Oldbury Camp to the west, and so into the present Darenth Valley. But near Plaxtol, where we first perceive it, the elevation of the bed was above the present 400 feet contour (not where the present brook runs 250 feet lower); its course is marked by signs of a terrace, at about the above-named level, on either side of the valley. On these terraces, at intervals, may be found small thin patches of gravel, left as the current swayed from side to side in its way to the chalk barrier at Otford, and thence to the north. These terraces and patches may be traced at intervals into the present Darenth Valley; certainly as far as Sepham Earm, near Otford. Eoughly speaking, the road by Old Soar and Crouch runs on one terrace; and on the other the turnpike road to Ightham. The places named for the finding of the implements mostly lie along these contour lines, and need not be more minutely described. I t will be perceived that the course of the old stream has 92 PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS been abruptly cut off, south of Plaxtol. It may be conjectured that it flowed from the south and west to the spot named, draining the country now occupied by the Medway, at a height above the last, at Tunbridge, of not less than 400 feet vertically. The Medway has occupied the southern part of the old Darenth drainage, and sending up arms, so to speak, has with one of them (the Plaxtol Brook) cut back the Basted Channel, up to the water parting of the two rivers, on Chart Earm. On the terraces are found river-worn implements lying in the old gravel, presenting evidences of long drifting amongst the stones in the bed. No. 4 on the list shews great wear from river action, and must have come many miles. That from Buley, No. 9, also shews these characters well. Many others have been found, apparently of greater antiquity, and wonderfully worn. These latter, however, must have a word or two said concerning them; they, as seen in the list annexed, are found at lower levels than that belonging to the old stream. The explanation is this :—they originally came from the high-level patches, but have been forced away and carried down by the late glaciation causing the " warp," in which they are usually found, or are in process of being ploughed out. They may be traced at various heights, until the lowest beds of the Medway, at Maidstone, Aylesford, and elsewhere, are reached, having suffered many changes on the way. All the country south of the North Downs is destitute of chalk, and although flint pebbles are to be found over every part of the surface, yet they are comparatively scarce. Consequently, flint implements are more easily detected there than in country abounding in broken flints. On the other hand, but one chert implement has been found, and chert is common. So rare are flints, that the neolithic workmen searched for these old gravel beds, and largely worked up for themselves the palEeolithic tools. Oldbury Hill constitutes a part of the southern bank of the old river running from the south, but it is on the greensand and is isolated. It is steep on all sides but the north, m SCALE. 7-i .TO ONE FOOT. F.C.J.SPUKfltLL.OCI —..' AcJi Fuais-LitiiG LvnlioL E G PALOZOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS. FOUND AT IGHTHAM, Efi/TH &. HAYES IN WEST KENT. POUND IN WEST KENT. 93 on which the gravels and sands of the river reach up to the level of 420 feet 0. D. Southward, from some little distance above this level, up to that of 600 feet, a hard table of rock stretches over the hill-top, projecting at the edges, leaving, under its worn and beetling masses, hollows and fissures. These appear to me to have been suitable for rock shelters, and in some places to be the openings of caves. There is a tradition of a smuggler's cave there now. The implements Nos. 24 to 27 are found on the east slope of Oldbury, under the table of rock, from which they seem to have fallen. Much of this rock has been rolled down the hill, for roadmetal; and some of the implements which shew so little signs of weathering were then, perhaps, disturbed from their resting-places. Erom types of implements, as illustrating their relative ages, we have great difficulty in drawing conclusions with any precision. At Northfleet, for instance, five different forms of hdches were found; all made on the same spot, with great diversity of finish, at the same time that it continued to be a flaking floor. But there are some types, in our district, which seem to work in with other conditions, and help to classify our worked flints, on bases not too narrow, in something like a comparative scale. Therefore my list is roughly divided under the following heads:— No. 25. (Pull size.) F.GJ.SFURREI.UBCL. 94 PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS A. Nos. 1, 2, 3 are extremely worn, and roughly made; they must have travelled far; they constitute the oldest of my list. B. Nos. 4, 5 are less rudely made and worn by river action ; probably later in date. Tr. Nos. 6 to 12 are transitional. I am uncertain under which head to place them in consequence of peculiarities in form and wear, but they mostly belong to C. Where found. 0. D. Mark. Owner. ..Pane Hill ...340 11 J. Evans A. i (imsmM I « ( IB Wk *. HI ian 8 i I >..s \i m ; '<"• I 1 •I r l v-d \ i m m, » m ^ife: ;ii UTTINC S -vjr 25. This is peculiar; it is triangular, with straight sides, somewhat resembling the form of a native oyster; the butt is equally thick either way, but the distant edge is thin, straight, and cutting. 26. Of rounded form ; bluish white ; the exact counterpart of a black implement from Le Moustier Cave, in the British Museum. (See Woodcut on next page.) 27. Elat on one side; not so well made. These four, 24-27, as well as others not so well formed, together with waste and used chips, all present the same mineral characters. The white coat is thin, shewing blue here and there; they are of peculiar appearance, and differ from others in the locality. The close resemblance between these and some "cave" implements of Erance and England, has induced me to call them by that term provisionally. VOL. xv. H 98 PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS m/ y 3 mu \d¥' ^ A \<; S\ > l ! i ^ \ « l \ X ;s c~* «\ v n i '>& The last three heads (C, D, E) have an increasing tendency to contain cutting implements; their tips being frequently straight, chisel edged, and not pointed, until in No. 25 (shewn on the first woodcut in this paper) the butt becomes a thick point, and the other end broadens out into a wide and trenchant blade. Thus they begin to resemble some neolithic forms. Though I have confined my account to paheolithic implements, clearly seen to be such, yet there are some, both from the Wealden and chalky sides of the North Downs Crest, concerning which it is difficult to determine whether they are palaeoliths or neoliths, or intermediate in time, as they appear to be transitional in form and condition. I hope on a future occasion to be able to consider these anomalous forms, and also some of the ruder neoliths. In describing the implements from the Basted Valley, and the "Wealden district around Ightham, it is imperative to acknowlege the remarkable care with which Mr. Benjamin Harrison, of Ightham, has personally collected nearly every specimen. Even those from this district, now in the CollecPOUND IN WEST KENT. 99 tions of Sir John Lubbock, Mr. J. Evans, Professor Prestwich, and myself, with few exceptions, have been found by him. The freedom with which all are permitted to see his Collection, and the care with which he shews the localities he knows so well, is never stinted. I may say that he has shewn me every spot where he has found, an implement, during the long period of his twenty-two years' search. Without this assistance from him it would have been difficult to have described them. To Sir John Lubbock my thanks are due for permitting me to make drawings of his implements. NORTH DABBNTH. On the south of the chalk ridge, called the Back-bone of Kent, other finds have helped to complete the list of implements from the Darenth basin. Though, as yet, no gravel beds certainly answering to the high level of the Wealden ones are known, there are evidences pointing to the probability that they will be found; as, of course, they once existed. An interesting hdche was found by Mr. W. Whitaker,* E.Gr.S., on a hill, about 250 0. D., near Horton Kirby. I t is evident from the situation that it once lay in the Darenth river bed, now running 250 feet below it. It is now in the Jermyn Street Museum; this probably belonged to the 300-400 line of gravels, of the district. The next in elevation was found near Erith, O. D. 175. Its dimensions are 4*8 x 4 ,4xl"5; it is of a cherty flint.t Others were found in gravels at 100 O. D. ; one being like the Wealden No. 6.J Besides these, a manufactory was found in the Crayford brickearths, at about 30 O. D. by myself ;§ and lastly I have an implement, found in the gravel of an old course of the Darenth-Cray, at Mr. 0. Beadle's yard, in Erith village, about 20 feet O. D. It is well formed, yellow-brown, heavy butt, and the opposite end a thin cutting edge, in a right * J. Evans's British Stone Implements, p. 532. t P. O. J. Spurrell in Areh. Journal, xxxvii., p. 298. See Evans and Spurrell loo. cit. X The gravel of Dartford Heath and the Brent, which contains implements and flakes, shews a similar faima to that of the same level at Northfleet. § Quart, Jour, of Geological Society, vol. xxxvi., p. 611. H 2 100 PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS line of over two inches, somewhat like No. 18, Bitchet. Dimensions, 4'1 x 3-6 x 1-8 (Plate, fig. 5). THE GRAY. The Cray is considered as a branch of the Darenth. It has not yielded many implements as yet. However, Mr. Evans has one from Currie Wood, found by himself. It has a special interest for us, and I regret that he has not engraved it. To his description I add a remark; it measures 4*3 x 3*0 x l ' 5 inches. If in shape it resembles his figure 462, as he says it does, it is not marked, and the difference as to wear is very great. In the chipping ridges there is no wear, they are perfectly sharp. I believe that it is what I have called a "land" implement, and it looks as if it had never moved far, but found its bed early in the clay with flints, having been but recently ploughed out. Its elevation was much over 500 O. D. The implements found by Mr. Norman were just under the 250 feet level, and are in Sir John Lubbock's Collection. THE RAVENSBOUBNE. Until two years ago, no palaeolithic implement had been found within the Ravensbourne basin. In that year, Mr. Geo. Clinch found a few and published his discovery in a little pamphlet in which he appeared to connect them with the people who occupied the " British" camp at Keston. On hearing of his discovery, I immediately visited the spot, and he has kindly shewn me over the land on which the things were found, near Rowes Earm at Hayes. The site is a patch of river gravel, between the 300-400 feet contour lines ; but no part of the patch reaches the higher level there. Some of the implements have been washed and trailed down to lower levels. Many worn flakes can.be easily found with them. These implements are comparable, in many ways, with those from Ightham; but they appear in the first three heads to be much more worn, especially the first two from Rowes Earm. These last have the appearance of having been tossed on a sea-beach. The stream, which brought the gravel down, had nowhere a run of six miles POUND IN WEST KENT. 101 from the chalk escarpment; which distance appears inadequate to produce the wear they exhibit. At the time they were collected on this spot, the stream-water flowed from near Tatsfield, by Nash near Keston, and Rowes Earm towards West Wickham Court; and, being met by other streams from the westward, deposited its burden in the cheek caused by the meeting, previous to making its way southward through the gully between Hayes and West Wickham. Since that day the dry valley, called Gates-bottom, has been cut down a hundred feet lower, and though not now contributing to the River Ravensbourne, the old high-level bed, as well as the Gates-bottom Channel, were once beginnings of that river; in all of which, some day, it is to be hoped that tools will be found. The probability that the sea (which, during the deposition of the chalky boulder clay, rose to about the 400 feet contour, on the north of the Chalk Downs) tossed these rough implements on its beach is in accord with the unworn condition of the Currie-Wood implement, at the higher level, and of those from the " Old Darenth" bed at Ightham, which do not present the same appearances. Eig 1, of Mr. Clinch's pamphlet, was a very roughly made hdche; the original coat remaining to shew how little chipping had been employed to shape the original pebble. * / 1. 4-2x3-6x 1-5...Church Eield...330ft. O. D....15 ...Clinch. ^ 12. 5-7x4-2x1-8... ditto ... ditto ...38... — This is of oval form, more worked, but less well shaped if anything; it has a portion knocked out of one side, which has, however, not shortened it. 5. 4-4 x 2-9 x 1-3. His last figure. C. That which answers to the head C. contains implements resembling the Ightham (Wealden) hst, Nos. 13-16 ; there are several circular ones. These, if mixed up with the Ightham finds, could not be easily separated, except from the fact that they are much more worn. 6. One marked 27 is 2"9 x 1*9 X '85. 7. Ditto 165 is P8 x 2-1X '9. This last has been so much used at the tip as to have worn 102 PALAEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS off more than one inch (see Plate, fig. 10), having been nearly the size of fig. 8. D. One, marked 162, measures 4-8x3-0xl- l. This was found near the others, but, unlike them, which are all dark yellow, it is a bright porcelain-like white; the tip (perhaps one inch) is lost. In form, mode of chipping, mineral character, sharp unworn condition, and relative situation, it resembles so very closely those Ightham Wealden specimens 20-23 as to be almost identical with some of them. With the Wealden implements bracketed under similar letters, A. B. C. D., these form a perfectly parallel series. It is hkely that the lower level of from 80-100 feet, at which they were found, is part of the 300-400 feet terrace, on the chalk hills. EBBSEDEET. The little valley winding from the crest of the Downs, northward by Meopham, and Southfleet to Northfleet, is called the Ebbsfleet when Springhead is reached; and thence to the Thames, receiving affluents from Cobham, it was, until lately, tidal. But it is noticeable that in the higher parts, near Meopham, Nurstead, and Cobham, all situated somewhere between the 300-400 contour, Mr. W. Whitaker, E.G.S.,* found broken implements of palaeolithic type. Near Swanscombe I found an implement at 150 O. D. ; and also the butt-half of a worn implement in situ, at 100 O. D., in the gravel under the river loams which cover the little tongue of high land lying a quarter of a mile west of Northfleet Church. I found, also, several unworn flakes in association with Elephantine, Rhinocerine, Equine, Bovine, and Cervine remains. Half a mile south-west of this spot is another cutting, in the valley below; where, about 20 feet above O. D. or less, I found a kind of beach, on which lay several hdches; they lay, according to the slope, from 5 to 25 feet below the surface. This represents a fall or excavation in the river course of over a hundred feet, since the last-mentioned level, and that within the distance of only a quarter of a mile. Mammoth remains of great size, also those of Rhinoceros, Bos, Bison, Horse, Deer, etc., are found on this spot. Here perfect hdches of * J. Evans's Stone Implements, p. 533. POUND IN WEST KENT. 103 five distinct kinds and make were obtained, and some unfinished and spoilt examples. I have examined many thousand flakes, and discovered numerous flint hammers, and knapping tools, with which the hdches were made, also some elegant slicks or scrapers of peculiar form, oval, flat on one side and rounded on the other. Of the hammers some were pointed, and some flat headed, being "used" at the edges of the "face." A number of flakes, mostly flat, and thin, and hollow on one side, varying in weight from 1 oz. to 8 lbs., were also found; the method of using them resembled that of the bricklayer's trowel. One implement is peculiar; it is a large mass of flint, weighing 8^ lbs.; it is a squarish block at one end, with a long thin prolongation at the other; this at the point has been roughly chipped to sharpen it, and the whole irresistibly suggests an apparatus for cutting a hole in ice or splitting bones. Maximum dimensions, 10*5 x 7*7 x 4*5. I give a few others. 1. 6'2 X 3-4 x 1*5. A flint fresh picked out of the chalk; the tip is chipped to a point, and one side only is chipped to the butt. 2. 5-5x3-5x2-1. A well-formed tool; it is water-worn, but of precisely the same form as some unfinished specimens found on the same spot. 3. 5-6 x 3'0 x 1'2. Beautifully thin and pointed, about 2 inches of one side left unworked; resembles fig. 6 of Mr. Evans's Plate I. of Erench implements. 4. 6-0 x 3'6 X l-3. Like the above, but coarser. 5. 3-7 X 2-8 x 1-3. Short and stumpy. 6. 4-0 X 2-0 x l'O. A clumsy flake, trimmed to a sharp point. The above implements resemble others from similar situations in the Somme Valley. 7. 4-0x2-8x0-9. This Jidche was thus made : a mass of flint was trimmed from the sides, and worked roughly into a rounded form at the top. This worked part was then detached at a single blow (by the pointed hammers mentioned above), leaving a turtle-back flake; when trimmed on one side only, such a flake was used as a scraper or slick; when trimmed on both sides, and worked to a point, it became a h&che.