A Few Notes on the Sub-Crag Flint Implements

Extract

At a Meeting of the “Prehistoric Society of East Anglia” held recently at Norwich, I heard a summary read of a paper by Mr. F. N. Haward on the Norwich Test Specimen. It is perhaps needless to say that Mr. Haward's paper purported to show that this specimen of a rostro-carinate flint implement owes its present form to certain natural agencies, and not to the purposeful blows of a human being. It is not, however, within my province to attempt a defence of the humanity of this well-known flaked flint. Sir Ray Lankester has described and illustrated the specimen in a paper published some little time ago (“Description of the Test Specimen of the Rostro-Carinate Industry found beneath the Norwich Crag,” Roy. Anth. Inst. Occasional Papers, No. 4), and prehistorians can choose whether they prefer to accept the opinion expressed in that paper, or the view of Mr. Haward. The latter gentleman's opposition, however, to the idea of the human origin of the flaking upon the Sub-Crag flints does not cease with the Norwich Test Specimen, but includes all the other specimens found in the Norwich Stone Bed.