Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 28.djvu/554

458 Ealing, some extensive cuttings in the gravel produced no trace of flakes or implements.

In all, about 22 implements and 160 flakes were discovered in the gravels at Acton and Ealing, the implements being far less numerous than in the similar deposits of the Somme or the Ouse. The forms of the implements vary between the oval and the pear-shape; and there is no evidence of the greater antiquity of either. Of these forms, nearly all were rounded, and left with the natural surface of the flint at the butt-end, only one having been found at Acton roughly chipped to an edge at the end. This is exclusive of the surface-type implement already mentioned as having been found to the east of the Station. The forms of the implements appear to have been determined by those of the stones out of which they were fabricated, an oval stone producing an oval implement, and a long stone a long implement. Most of the implements are of small size; and those found in Section F, being the commonest, might perhaps be selected as the Acton type. One implement, found by me in this gravel, is remarkable for being entirely untouched on one side, and roughly chipped on the other, showing that the fabricator selected a suitable pointed stone for his purpose, and, having one side prepared for him by nature, devoted his whole attention to the trimming of the other. Another implement was found in a rudimentary stage of manufacture, having only one side formed, by blows delivered all in one direction, when the fabricator abandoned it. [Two well-formed cores were exhibited, one of which was from Mill Hill.] The flakes, as a rule, are more abundant, smaller, and finer than is customary in the drift; some of these might be taken for surface-flakes; they are no doubt peculiar to the drift of this locality.

The long, sharp, thin flake, 5$1⁄2$ inches in length, $1⁄4$ thick, and $3⁄4$ broad, found in the seam of soft sandy clay, in the position represented in the diagram, Section H, is, I believe, almost a unique specimen of drift manufacture, and suggests the possibility of many of the other flakes having been originally of more perfect construction before they became rolled and fractured in the gravel. Two or three specimens are bevelled at the end, as in the form of scrapers. Some of the implements were found by myself in gravel laid on roads, and excavated from spots the particular position of which could be ascertained. In all cases where sections are given, I took particular care to test the accuracy of the statements of the workmen as to the exact positions of the implements, and I have no doubt of their correctness in each case. Shortly after I commenced my visits to Acton, some rather ingenious attempts at forgery were foisted upon me, by chipping, varnishing, and, when dry, burying the flints thus prepared in the ground; but upon my pointing out at once to the workmen the precise manner in which each chip had been made, the recent character of the whole, the varnishing, the burying, and the economy of time and labour which might be effected by looking for the real implements when at work in the gravel, instead of wasting so much time over very imperfect imitations, they at once saw that it was impossible to deceive me, and I never afterwards found any attempt made to impose upon