125
"PRIMAEVAL MAN IN THE VALLEY OF
THE LEA." (Conclusion.)
By WORTHINGTON G. SMITH, F.L.S., M.A.I , etc.
Implements.
Nearly all the Palaeolithic Implements found in England are
made of flint: in the cherty gravels of Dorset, Somerset, and Devon
they are, however, made of chert. On very rare occasions a Thames
Valley implement is made of quartzite. I have seen a few flakes of
quartzite in the Stoke Newington gravels, but as far as I know only one
implement of this intractable material has been met with there. This
was formerly No. 1,317 in my collection, and is now in the British
Fig. 1.—Paleolithic Implement of compact quartzite from
Creighton Road, Stoke Newington (one-half actual size).
Museum, Bloomsbury ; it is a very good example, weighs 13 ozs., is
made of compact quartzite, and is illustrated one-half its actual size
fig. 1. Why Palaeolithic men now and then made quartzite imple-
ments in positions where flint was abundant, is hard to say, they
were possibly made for amusement, or as proofs of unusual skill and
dexterity, they were certainly not made from necessity, for their
manufacture was very much more difficult than in the ordinary tools
of flint.