In a former paper (Proceedings, Vol. II., Pt. IV.), a description was given of some lumps and cores from Windmill Hill, Avebury, with a few comparisons from Grime's Graves, Norfolk. Among the cores, the tortoise variety, both ideal and in its modified forms, is abundantly in evidence. Fig. 27 comes under the former category, and was, perhaps, also held in the fingers for use as a chopper. The facet whence the desired flake was taken is evident enough.

Fig. 28 is a thick and coarser variety, and is commoner. It, has a useful flake removed (left-hand figure), and an obtuse edge, capable of use. Allied to the last-named is the cube type, represented by Fig. 29. Sometines, as in Fig. 30, the flake was taken off the more convex face. In this instance it was one of the small leaf-shaped and sub-triangular kind so common on Windmill Hill, also produced in larger size and numerously at Avebury Down and Grime's Graves.

In the autumn of 1920 some of the workmen on the Sewage Farm of the Newbury Corporation were engaged in levelling a low mound and depositing the soil in a hollow close by. During these operations hey came upon a few small pointed-butted celts and a number of lakes, most of which they threw away; one celt and a few flakes were taken the following April to the Newbury Museum. The site was inspected without delay, and resulted in the discovery of imilar flakes in a thick deposit of black soil immediately underlying he surface soil; the problem was, however, further complicated by the discovery of Romano-British potsherds in the same deposit.

Mr. Crawford and I resolved, therefore, to undertake a systematic exploration of the site, as soon as the crops were off the ground. In the meantime, while cultivating the land during the summer, the workmen recovered most if not all of the implements which they had discarded the previous autumn.

For many years the post-glacial age of palæolithic man in this country was generally accepted, though it was denied by some, especially by Prof. James Geikie and Mr. S. B. J. Skertchly. The latter based his views upon the distribution of the superficial deposits on the western borders of Norfolk and Suffolk, of which more anon.

Of recent years, the work of various continental geologists has shewn that palæolithic man lived in western Europe before the latest glacial episode, and it seems very unlikely therefore, that the same was not the case in our own country. We determined, therefore, to open some sections in the well-known locality of High Lodge, Mildenhall, in order to try to obtain evidence upon this point. We would wish to record our cordial thanks to Sir Henry Bunbury, upon whose estates the High Lodge deposits are found, for giving us permission to make excavations, and affording us every facility during the operations. We also took advantage of a recently opened exposure at Warren Hill, to note the section exposed at that place.

Some years ago the late Mr. Arthur Gordon, of Ellon, showed the writer several “anvils” found on his property on Skelmuir Hill, 7 miles north of Ellon, in Aberdeenshire. In 1914 the writer visited this place and found numerous specimens, and noticed at the same time many circular depressions in the ground. At that time it was impossible to investigate the matter further, but Mr. Gordon very kindly granted permission to excavate the depressions when the opportunity occurred. With the very kind permission of Mrs. Gordon, Mr. J. Reid Dean, trustee of the estate, and Mr. Walter Gordon, on whose farm the site is situated, some excavations were made in 1918, the results of which are described here.

Cones are distributed more or less over the surface of the Land's End district, and, in certain well-defined spots, varying in area from a few square yards to one or two acres, they occur abundantly. On the accompanying rough sketch map some of these spots are marked, letters being used for the “major” and figures for the “minor” sites, i.e., those which have hitherto yielded over or under 50 Cones respectively.

In the following list of sites, the figure after each name indicates the site's approximate height in feet above sea-level:—G, Greeb, 160; S, Stamps, 200; R, Roskestal, 200; P, Pednmên-an-mere, 180; 1, Pordenack, 180; 2, Skewjack, 250; 3, Brew, 270; 4, Trevean, 250; 5, Tolpednpenwith, 150; 6, Churchtown, 200; 7, Trewey, 290; 8, Treen, 200; 9, Boscean, 220; and 10, Trevedren, 300. Most of these sites are near to the sea and are invariably in the immediate vicinity of streams or springs.

I discovered my first flint implement, a very fine Neolithic axe, in Gresham, in the year 1883, and this find led me to investigate the neighbourhood for other specimens. I was successful in finding many Neolithic implements of various kinds, which have from time to time been exhibited at the meetings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia.

Shortly after my first finds, I commenced searching the gravels in the parish for “river drift” implements, but with very little success, as I soon found out that the gravel was of glacial origin, and the sandy surface of most of the district around was also glacial.

The high ground to the north of Gresham consists of what is now fairly well known as the “Cromer-Holt ridge,” and is considered by Mr. F. W. Harmer, F.G.S., to be the terminal moraine of the North Sea ice sheet, built up while the glacier remained stationary for a long period, on its northward retreat. The numerous small valleys were formed by waters from the melting ice while the glacier was in its stationary stage, and may also have been influenced by the later glacier which deposited the chalky boulder clay.

The flints from the Thatcham site must be divided for purposes of description into two large classes—(1) those which were found under the compact layer of peaty soil or under the shell-malm, (2) those which were found elsewhere on the site. Strictly speaking, only those belonging to class (1) can be proved to belong to a single period, since they alone were sealed up under an undisturbed, naturally formed deposit. But there can be no doubt whatever that all the worked flints found on the site in whatever position, are contemporary; I shall therefore describe the far more numerous objects in class (2) first. Before doing so two important pieces of negative evidence must be recorded. Not a single fragment of ground or polished stone was found. Not a single piece of pottery was found under the peat or the shell-malm; nor was any but Roman pottery found elsewhere on the site. There can therefore be no doubt that the Roman pottery is entirely unconnected with the flint implements.

In giving an account of the humanly-fashioned flints found during the excavations at High Lodge, it is proposed to deal with those discovered in exposing section A, and to proceed to describe the specimens recovered in the other diggings, which will be dealt with in their alphabetical order.

Section A. A small twisted, ovate palæolithic implement, flatter on one face than on the other, and referable, it seems, to Late Acheulean times, was found associated with the thin seam of gravel occurring under the turf at section A. This specimen, which exhibits only small signs of abrasion, is of a yellowish colour, except where areas of hardness in the flint have resisted the agent of discolouration. These areas are either of a dark coffee shade, or coloured a light brown. The specimen measures in greatest length ins.; in greatest width 2 ins.; and greatest thickness ins.

My attention was first drawn to this locality in the summer of 1915. I exhibited the first few specimens obtained before this Society at the meeting held at Norwich on December 13th of that year, and a brief notice of the exhibit appeared in the Appendix to the “Proceedings,” Vol. II., p. 321.

The site or sites (numbered for reference purposes LV.), are in the parish of Risby, two miles West of the village, on the Cavenham road, from which village they are only distant about one mile.

The sites occupy the Northern bank and bottom of a small dry valley on Risby Poor's Heath. This little valley runs towards the (now) very small stream which crosses the main road at Roberts'-Bridge, which stream is itself a feeder of the Lark; hence the fall is from the Eastern boundary of the heath towards the West. The first site was indicated to me by numerous shallow, somewhat rectangular, excavations, apparently made, say, within the last thirty or forty years, presumably for the purpose of getting road-stone.

At the eastern foot of Bromehill, where the prehistoric trackway known as the “Drove” (antea Vol. I., pp. 427–434) passes from Weeting to Santon, it approaches within yards of the river Little Ouse, and cuts at right angles through a series of six earthen banks, which come from the southern end of the Grime's Graves plantation, and originally ran to the edge of the marshland, until their ends were removed in making the railway. From west to east the distances between these banks are 7, 3, 3, 9, and 82 yards, and they are now about 2 feet in height and 6 feet in width, though much broken by rabbits. The penultimate bank towards the east is the boundary between the parishes of Weeting and Santon.

East of these banks and south of the “Drove” is “Santon Breck,” part of which was ploughed in 1907, but most of which is primitive heath. Here, in September, 1908, I found many Roman potsherds, including Castor and Upchurch ware. (See Norf. Antiq. Miscellany, 2nd Series, Pt. 3, p. 98). Similar pottery fragments are found on the surface over an extensive area.

Though little flint-work was found in our excavations, the High Lodge industries are well established, and rest upon a large quantity of implements, chiefly in the Sturge collection now at the British Museum. The specimens shewn at the meeting by Mr. S. G. Fenton (who claims to be the first discoverer of the site) and Mr. G. F. Lawrence were thoroughly representative and very welcome; but the following are all from the national collection, which includes the fine series formerly in the possession of Canon Green well. Of the mass of material now available very little has been published, and the only illustrations appear to be the three in Sir John Evans' book (Figs. 425, 426, 426A). Dr. Sturge recognised the two main divisions (Proceedings, i., 69–72), and the following illustrated specimens are from the brick-earth series only–lower in position but later in date than the hand-axes that abound on the site. In any choice of this kind the tendency must be to give greater prominence to exceptional pieces, either the rarest or the best worked; and an effort has been made to counteract these by including specimens typical of the main groups.

Hackpen Hill, 888-ft., is the highest ridge of the Marlborough Downs properly so called, and has already been described in my paper on the Palæoliths found on its summit. The southern hills, overlooking the Pewsey Valley, rise to 965-ft. The top of the hill, hough narrow, is flat, and bears pockets of Tertiary remains, the ub-soil being of a clayey nature almost throughout.

Until recently, five large fields were tilled, and seventeen years ago a sixth was still under the plough. The space covered by these was 1½ miles in length; and on an average, about ⅓ mile in width, two of the fields stretching a little way down the dip slope of the hill.

In 1917 the work at Grime's Graves was carried out by Mr. and Mrs. E. T. Lingwood and myself, and was limited to sections and floors, as the war prevented us from obtaining outside labour. For permission to excavate, we are again much indebted to the Trustees of the Weeting Estate, Mrs. T. S. Hall and Mr. C. Cockburn. The following paper gives the results of the work, and in it are figured some of the new implements.

The Grime's Graves culture shows a wide variety of forms, and I think it is important to illustrate as many of these as possible. This vast factory must have sent out implements far beyond the present boundaries of Britain, and no doubt many implements found on the Continent will be traced to this source. Very few industries have been sufficiently illustrated in the past, and this has led to erroneous conclusions when collections are not accessible.

These implements and flakes were collected during the past two years from the ploughed fields of Beer Head and the immediate vicinity.

The white cliffs at Beer Head, S.E. Devon, are the last of the Chalk Cliffs to westward on the South Coast, but cretaceous beds appear inland further west at Haldon and Bovey Tracy.

The cliff section shows greensand at the base, and chalk, with a thin capping of “clay with flints and chert,” above.

The highest point of the Head is 475 ft. O.D. Early in last century gun-flints were made on this site. Occasional flakes from this factory are met with and are easily distinguished by their dull surface. The fields in which the implements were found are near the coastguard station, and from about 200 to 600 yards from the cliffs.

I have been asked to explain the circumstances under which certain flint implements of the Le Moustier period were found near the trenches at Coigneux. And this with special reference to geological strata. Between the 1st April and the 14th August, 1918, Coigneux, a small village about 16 miles S.W. of Arras, lay some 6 miles behind the British front line. At the commencement of the German offensive in 1918 the ground on three sides of the village was hastily prepared for defence, and a triple line of trenches with many branches (known as the “Red Line”) was constructed. At first these trenches were only about 4 feet deep, but in June and July some of them were further excavated to a total depth of 6 feet. They were never manned by the infantry, and the parapets of the trenches were never disturbed. As officer in charge of the 42nd Division Observers, I lived in the neighbourhood of Coigneux from the middle of April till the middle of August, 1918. I had, therefore ample opportunity in the intervals of military duty to inspect the excavations, especially during the period of their extension. I had already searched for flint implements in different parts of France. And in June 1918, a kind suggestion from Reginald A. Smith, Esq., F.S.A., made me pay special attention to this excavated ground.

Reference generally may be made to an article on the Classification of Burins or Gravers by Mr. Miles C. Burkitt, M.A., p. 306, Vol. III. of the Proceedings. The object of this article is to illus-trate Gravers from the Microlithic flint sites in West Yorkshire. Specimens have indeed been found in past years, but it is only recently that they have received recognition. And it is hoped that they may help to solve the problem of the age of this industry.

At present there is no clear evidence to dissociate any of the implements here illustrated from the well known microlithic industry of the Pennine Chain. There is, however, some reason to believe that most, but not all, of the Gravers were made during the earlier period of the local industry; whilst the beaked graver-like tools, absent at first, undoubtedly continued to its later stages. Also that gravers associated with tools of La Madeleine type may be established, stratigraphically below the pygmy series.

Not only is Grimes' Graves an essentially East Anglian site, but it is also one of the most interesting, and most perplexing, prehistoric sites of Britain, presenting many controversial problems which only persistent research and careful observation will solve.

Recent work upon the site has marked a distinct advance in this direction, notably by the fortunate discovery in 1920 of Floor 85 with its definite stratification, and evidences of successive occupation during at least five widely separated intervals of time. With Dr. R. V. Favell as a co-worker, excavations were resumed upon this floor in August, 1921, and continued for six days. An additional 40 square yards was carefully and systematically explored down to the level of the boulder clay, resulting in the recovery of a further series of important flint implements and examples of engraving. Owing to the favourable nature of the site with its stratified chipping and occupation levels, each sealed and separated by sterile layers of humus, and closely compacted chalk debris, it has thrown important light upon some of the problems of the Grimes' Graves industry, and should enable not only certain definite conclusions to be arrived at, but materially assist in the ultimate classification of the various cultural forms of the implements from the Graves generally.

It is admitted by all workers in prehistory that the human implements which are found upon the surface do not all belong to the Neolithic period, although, until recently, they have always been called Neolithic. It therefore seems better to define them clearly as a Surface Series, without prejudice to their date.

Beyond this point of general agreement, differences of opinion are strongly marked. Some workers would boldly place the majority of the Surface Series in the Later Palæolithic period, or “Cave Age,” while others are unable to accept this view.

It must be admitted that we have very little knowledge of remains belonging to a strictly-defined Neolithic period. We know that “Neolithic” implements continued to be extensively used during the Early Bronze Age, and even in later times.

The account given by Mr. Burroughs in 1880 of the discovery of the Sutton shield is illustrated by a rather inferior drawing, and is somewhat misleading in some respects. It seems to me, therefore, advisable that a photograph of the shield should be published and the facts of its discovery placed on record. I am greatly indebted to Dr. Francis Clowes, the present owner of the shield, for the following information and for the photographs (Plate XVIII.) which are here reproduced with his permission. Dr. Clowes was with Mr. Burroughs when he visited the place where the shield was found, so that the facts given here may be accepted as correct.

The discovery was made on June 7th, 1875, by two men digging a main drain to the mill which stands at the edge of the “Hand Marsh” south-east of Sutton Broad, but I am unable to say exactly which is the drain in question. The shield was found beneath about 7 feet of peat, lying on, and partly covered by, bright white sand, while in its vicinity were pieces of oak three or four feet long, much charred by fire.

The excavations which, with the flint implements and other relics discovered, it is the purpose of this paper to describe, commenced towards the end of February, 1919, and continued until July, 1920. The money to pay for the wages of the excavator, Baxter, was most generously supplied by the Trustees of the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund, and I wish to record my thanks for their invaluable help.

I have to acknowledge also, with gratitude the assistance given me in my researches by Sir Ray Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S., Sir Arthur Keith, F.R.S., Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., Professor J. E. Marr, F.R.S., Dr. Smith Woodard, F.R.S., Dr. Charles Andrews, F.R.S., Mr. Reginald Smith, and the owners of the various properties upon which the diggings were conducted.

The drawings which illustrate this paper are reproduced from work executed by Mr. E. T. Lingwood, to whom the science of prehistoric archæology is greatly indebted for his continued and invaluable help in the matter of illustrations.