130 PRIMAEVAL MAN IN THE VALLEY OF THE LEA.
at Stoke Newington, chiefly branches, twigs, and tree trunks. Very
little has been preserved, owing sometimes to the unwieldly size of
the pieces, and at other times to their very friable nature; neither
could room be found indoors, or out, for the tree limbs, etc., found.
All wood has not become friable,
some has remained exceeding firm.
Leaves were in some places abun-
dant, but in the highest degree
friable and difficult of preservation ;
indeed I had no time, means or
material for preserving all the
vegetable remains. I recognized
without doubt the alder, the hazel,
the birch, blackthorn and brambles
(with thorns in situ on the branches
and twigs), rushes showing typical
microscopical structure, grasses,
Traveller's Joy (Clematis vitalba, L.),
and in great abundance the rhizomes
and fronds (especially the former)
of the Fern Royal (Osmunda regalis,

Fig. 12.—Ends of the stakes illustrated in
Fig. 11 (one-half actual size).
L.) In some places on the "floor"

the fronds of the Fern Royal ap-
peared to have been used as litter; in one mass shovelled out, for me
by the men, I found, besides several sharp flakes, a keen and beauti-
fully made little flint implement, and part of a fossil leg bone of a
small horse. The implement is in the British Museum, Bloomsbury.
Fig. 13.—Piece of hacked wood (one-half actual size).
Amongst the fern fronds two artificially pointed birch stakes, each
nearly four feet long were drawn out by the men, as illustrated, to the
scale of one inch to a foot, in fig. 11. The stakes were so soft when
found that one parted in two at A B when laid down. The two
artificially hacked and pointed ends of these stakes are shown one-