116
A SUPPOSED NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT.
method of construction of habitations was imported from the
Continent ; these are questions we cannot at present decide.
But from the examination of the site and remains at Skitts Hill,
we may reasonably conclude that we have here very early habi-
tations, and that in these we have traces of Neolithic man in
this district. It has been suggested by some that the greater
part of Essex was so much occupied by primaeval forest that
there was little room left for primitive man, and that, for the
most part, the land was occupied by wild animals. Confining
our observations to Great Britain, and comparing Essex with
the more open plains and moorlands, such as Salisbury Plain,
Grims Dyke country, and the Wolds of Yorkshire, it may be
that on account of the abundance of timber, Essex was less
favourable for the settlement of men of the Stone-age and later
times, and, in consequence, they were not so numerous. For
men possessing only stone and other primitive tools, forest
clearing would be a difficult undertaking, and for that reason, if
for no other, the numerous valleys and margins of streams were
inhabited before the higher grounds, and, probably, at the
earliest arrival of Neolithic man. And here, at Skitts Hill,
have been found what we take to have been one of these early
settlements, just where we might expect, namely, in proximity
to the river and upon the lower grounds. When once the Lake-
settlements were formed, they, no doubt, survived throughout
long epochs, and may have continued during the Stone, Bronze,
and Iron periods. This seems to be a reasonable deduction, and
one supported by comparison with like discoveries. And such
settlements as that at Skitts Hill may really be numerous, but
concealed from observation by alluvial accumulations, which will
be removed in the future for the purposes of the brick-making
industry. These valley beds are less-frequently disturbed than
the pleistocene deposits on higher ground, which are excavated
for the sake of loams and gravels. Hence the interest of the
Skitts Hill discovery, and the importance of preserving the
objects found, as a clue to future discoveries in this branch of
local archaeology.
All the objects described in this paper are now placed
in the possession of the Essex Field Club for exhibition
in the County Museum of Natural History, my wish being
that they may form an object-lesson to those who, like myself,
are seeking on every occasion to find and record any new facts