245
THE RELATION OF PALAEOLITHIC MAN TO
THE GLACIAL EPOCH.
[Report of the Committee (presented to the Liverpool
Meeting of the British Association, 1896), consisting of Sir
John Evans (Chairman), Miss E. Morse, Mr. Clement Reid
(Secretary), Mr. E. P. Ridley, and Mr. H. N. Ridley, appointed
to ascertain by excavation at Hoxne the relations of the
Palaeolithic Deposits to the Boulder Clay, and to the deposits
with Arctic and Temperate Plants.—Drawn up by the Secretary.]
THE Glacial Epoch doubtless came practically to an end at very
different dates at places not many hundreds of miles apart.
And the extremely varied circumstances under which Glacial
deposits were formed, resulting in great local variations in the
deposits themselves, together with their extremely irregular distribu-
tion, make the task of correlating them, when far apart, one of doubt
and difficulty. Fortunately the Chalky Boulder Clay of the Eastern
Counties is extremely uniform in character throughout its course,
and occupies, as a continuous sheet, a larger portion of the surface
of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex than any other formation. Therefore
the result of explorations at Hoxne, on the northern border of
Suffolk, is as much a matter of local interest to members of the
Essex Field Club as if the scene of investigation had been Dunmow
or Thaxted, or any other spot within the limits of this county.
This Committee was appointed at the Ipswich meeting of the
British Association in 1895, "with the object of clearing up certain
doubtful points as to the relation of Paleolithic man to the Glacial
Epoch." Hoxne was selected as the best place for the investigation
because "Paleolithic implements and various fossiliferous strata
were there known to occur in close proximity to undisturbed Boulder
Clay, and it was probable that a single excavation would be sufficient
to decide several of the disputed questions."
We learn from a brief account of the previous explorers at
Hoxne that it is just a century (1797) since John Frere recorded in
a letter the occurrence of Paleolithic implements there. Among
investigators of a later date have been Sir John Evans, Professor
Prestwich, Thomas Belt, Mr. H. B. Woodward, Mr. Clement Reid,
and Mr. H. N. Ridley.
The Committee began work at Hoxne on March 23rd, 1896, Mr.