PALAEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS FROM THAMES VALLEY.
55
Despite the thorough investigation of the fossil vertebrate
fauna of the Uphall Brickyard undertaken by Sir Antonio Brady
and others, it had not yielded any traces of man up to the time
of its abandonment ; and it was not until the early part of last
year, when I discovered some flint flakes3 in the pits which had
then lately been opened on the classical site, that Homo sapiens
was known to be a member of that fauna.
Fig. 2. Flint Spear-head from the Crayford Brick-earth. Nat. size.
One of these flakes is shewn in Fig. 3, and is another
excellent sample of the neat work of the men who inhabited the
Thames Valley during the low-level epoch. The best specimen
however (Fig. 4), is a flake of slate-black flint which has been
carefully serrated along the edge ; the secondary trimming is very
Fig. 3. Flint Flake from the Gravel at Ilford, Essex. Actual size.
fine and far superior to any I have seen from the high-level
drift. I found these flakes all in situ in the upper part of the gravel,
with which they were clearly contemporaneous, being little, if at
all, worn, and quite free from ochreous stains. This same bed
yielded bones of rhinoceros, together with land and freshwater
shells, some of which are no longer living in this country.
While exploring the Grays district, together with my friends
Messrs. Hinton and Kennard, I obtained several flint tools from
3 J. P.Johnson, "Additions to the Palaeolithic Fauna of the Uphall Brickyard, Ilford."
Essex Naturalist, vol xi. (1900), pp. 209-212. I can now also add Vitrea radiatula (Ald.),
some shells of this Gastropod being in the collection of my friend Mr. G. White.