148 ON SOME SECTIONS BETWEEN W. THURROCK AND STIFFORD,
prolonged in a southerly direction the patch of gravel west of that
which affords a site for the village of Stifford.
Another point suggesting a remark is this. On the Kentish
shore of the Thames we see between Plumstead and Erith a line of
fault, ranging nearly east and west and having a downthrow to the
north. This fault if prolonged eastward in the same direction would
pass between Purfleet and Marshfoot Farm close to Aveley Marsh,
and might have been met with west of Stifford. But we saw
nothing on the new line suggesting the probable existence of a fault.
And as the Chalk at Marshfoot Farm, north of the Mardyke is only
70 ft. beneath the surface, though covered by old river deposits, not
Lower Tertiary rocks,1 it is evident that the Plumstead fault either
dies away in this direction or takes a northerly turn so as to leave the
Mardyke between Purfleet and Stifford some distance south of its
course.
Turning from geology to anthropology, I have to mention, in
conclusion, the finding of a human skeleton close to the Mardyke
when the foundations for the piers of the bridge across that stream
were being made. At the meeting of the Anthropological Institute
on June 24th, the skull and one of the thigh bones were exhibited
by Mr. J. E. Price, F.S.A., who stated that the skeleton had been
enclosed in a receptacle made of osiers, and that it had been dis-
covered in the marsh close to the Mardyke, in a vertical position,
the head being downwards. Dr. Garson remarked that the skull
was that of a woman, and was without any noticeable peculiarities.
I ventured to express the opinion that it was extremely unlikely that
the body had originally been buried in a marsh close to a river, and
that it was much more probable that it had either been thrown into
the stream or had been washed out of a bank of higher ground. In
that case it would eventually be stranded close to one of the banks,
and as streams were always tending to change their courses, it had
become imbedded in the alluvium. The vertical position (I thought)
was either due to the way in which the receptacle containing the
corpse had originally been weighted, or to accident having caused
any articles of weight placed within it to fall to the head end.
Nothing seems to have been found giving any clue to the antiquity
of this skeleton. Full particulars about it will doubtless be given in
a forthcoming part of the "Journal of the Anthropological Insti-
tute."
1 See Trans. "Essex Field Club," vol. iv., p. 151.