Surface Implements of Palæolithic Type

The series exhibited by Mr. Vachell not only contains some specimens of peculiar interest, but teaches a lesson that will not be lost on prehistorians at the present time. The Downs behind Folkestone are, like most of the chalk area in the South-East of England, very rich in worked flints, though probably no richer than many other localities with the same formation; but surface finds are in the nature of things miscellaneous, and collectors are often at a loss to classify what they pick up in the open. For this deadlock the text-books are largely to blame, for if they do not actually state that surface-finds are Neolithic, they imply that such is the case; and confidence in form is considerably shaken when ovate implements, identical in all but colour with gravel specimens, are attributed to the later Stone Age merely on account of their position. Some authors have protested, but the superstition is still rife, and another object-lesson will not be superfluous.