Upper Palæolithic Man in East Anglia

Extract

In the northern part of Ipswich, between the Henley and the Norwich Roads, is situated the brickfield of Messrs. A. Bolton & Co., Ltd., where the Eocene London Clay is excavated, and manufactured into red bricks. The brickfield lies in a small and now streamless valley which has been found to be extraordinarily rich in vestiges of the past races of East Anglia. It has been my privilege to examine and conduct excavations in this valley, for many years past, and a great deal is now known about its geological and archæological history. The valley itself, though so near to the town of Ipswich, presents on its southern side, much beauty and wildness, and is the home of many interesting and beautiful birds. It begins as a slight depression in the plateau to the east of the Henley Road, and gradually deepening, and developing a somewhat sinuous course, joins the main valley of the River Gipping about a mile to the westward. The valley is typical of many such in Suffolk, and owes its initial formation to the melting of the glacier that laid down the Upper Boulder Clay of East Anglia. The water set free during this process would naturally find its way into the main drainage valley close by, and there is evidence, in the form of the valley under consideration, that it did this with considerable rapidity.