Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 25.djvu/583

Rh doubtless at one time continuous. There is not so much, quartzite and jasper here, nor is the gravel so ferruginous as at Brandon; and being worked for the parish roads, and not for sale, as in the other pits, fewer flint implements have been obtained from it. The gravel extends over an area of about 60 acres, and lies immediately upon the chalk, to the same depth as at Brandon—8 to 10 feet.

Shrub Hill, Feltwell.—This deposit differs materially from the others; it is found on a farm known as Shrub Hill farm, situate in the fen on the Norfolk side of the river, and about eight miles below Gravel Hill. The implements occur in, or rather beneath, a patch of coarse flint-gravel and sand, which is apparently completely isolated. The chalk is here wanting, and the gravel, which is spread over an area of more than twenty acres, reposes immediately upon the surface of the gault. This bed, which is now extensively worked, was until lately quite unknown, the gault and the gravel being alike effectually concealed by the great bed of peat which just covers them. Although not laid down in any map, this gault is evidently a continuation of the bed, portions of which are shown in the Society's map, at Downham, Cambridgeshire, to the south, and Stoke Perry, Norfolk, to the north.

The gravel here is about 12 feet in thickness, but at the surface it is only 6 feet above the river. The implements here, as at the several other places above described, are, with very few exceptions, found at the bottom of the gravel, and not seldom they are lying upon the surface of the gault; they are usually much worn and rolled, and occur in considerable numbers: the gravel here is unstratified, and contains much less quartzite than at Brandon, and the overlying sands do not attain to so great a thickness.

Both at Broomhill and Brandon, as well as at Shrub, the implements are found in considerable quantities; I have procured several hundred specimens, sometimes as many as a hundred at a time. Other collectors have also visited the pits, and I have no doubt that there have been at least 1500 specimens procured from them within the last two years. When it is considered how many must escape the notice of the workmen, we may well believe that the valley of the Little Ouse is as prolific of these objects as that of the Somme, if not more so.

It has been usual hitherto to consider them as divisible into three kinds,—the flakes, the pointed, and the ovoid; but several others may, I think, now be distinguished. One implement, from Shrub Hill, which was found on the surface of the gault, is probably the largest yet discovered in England or France; it is 11$1⁄2$ ins. long, and its circumference at the thickest part is 13 inches. Two of those procured from Brandon are formed from quartzite-pebbles similar to those among which they are imbedded. Mr. John Evans has also found one of the same material, although of a somewhat different form, and he has obtained a well-shaped implement of diorite from the same place; in each of these a portion of the original surface remains. These, I believe, are the only instances in which such