Page:VCH Cornwall 1.djvu/409



HE period which the present article is intended to cover extends from the very first appearance of man until the period when written history begins, however feebly, to illuminate the subject. The materials from which this very early part of the story of man in Cornwall may be built up consist, of course, not of inscriptions or documents, but of crude and often fragmentary traces of man's handiwork in pottery or stone, or metallic objects such as weapons, tools, etc.

The stone circles, of which there are a large number in the county, although properly coming within this classification, have been thought to be of sufficient importance to be dealt with in a special chapter.

Prehistoric antiquities of the character here dealt with, although by no means rare in Cornwall, are perhaps somewhat more restricted in range than we find in the case of more eastern or midland districts in England. In certain classes of prehistoric remains, however, Cornwall is remarkably well-represented, as will be shown in the following pages.

Following the usual classification of prehistoric antiquities adopted in the Victoria History of the Counties of England, the following main divisions will be made in this article, although the first of these is but imperfectly represented, viz., Palaeolithic Age, Neolithic Age, Bronze Age, and Early Iron Age.

It has generally been supposed that Cornwall has not hitherto yielded any palaeolithic antiquities, either in the form of river-drift implements, or of those cave implements of which the adjoining county, Devonshire, has furnished so many famous examples. Recent discoveries at Prah Sands, however, have been made by Mr. and Mrs. Clement Reid, in which an ancient land- surface, certain rude implements (?) of vein-quartz, and traces of fire, and perhaps of hearths, were detected, all of them, it was suggested by the discoverers, being probably of Palaeolithic Age. Whatever the final verdict may be as to the definite age of this land-surface after further observations may have made it possible to arrive at a clear idea as to its character, there can be little if any doubt as to the fact that this is really an ancient land-surface, certainly as old as the neolithic period. It comes well within the scope of prehistoric archaeology, but in order to prevent any possible misunderstanding it has been considered wiser to include a description of it in the neolithic section rather than in the palaeolithic section.

The antiquities found in Cornwall furnish abundant evidence of early man during this period. These consist of the actual remains of human beings discovered in interments, as well as the implements and weapons made