UNEXPLORED FIELDS OF ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY. 129
aken to extend no further than those commonly reputed, used,
or taken in the 20th year of the reign of James I." (loc. cit.,
p. 49). It is, therefore, certain that in 1622-23, and at some
earlier period, some boundaries existed which were sworn to by
the witnesses examined by the Commissioners in 1641, and it is
probable that these older stones represent two of the earlier
boundary marks which were reinstated and again recognised at
the last Perambulation. From this point of view the older stones
are historically equal in interest and importance to the boundary
stones which the Club has been authorised to reinstate in their
original sites, and it is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that in
the two cases referred to every care will be taken to preserve
both of the adjacent stones.
ON SOME UNEXPLORED FIELDS OF ESSEX
ARCHAEOLOGY.
By JOHN FRENCH.
[Read February 29th, 1908.]
THE county of Essex has a superiority over many other parts
of England in that it contains in its drift deposits relics of
human occupation which go back an enormous period in time.
It is not possible to assign a length to this period within hundreds,
or even thousands, of years. Furthermore, there is not sufficient
evidence in the relics that are left to judge of the population by
whom they were handled. From whence these people came,
how long they remained, and what their occupations were, will
for ever remain a mystery. There is one thing that comes out
of collating their relics (chipped stones) with those obtained
from other countries. This comparison shows that the few types
that can be made out had their counterpart in the most distant
countries. They are in fact cosmopolitan. There is, moreover,
one characteristic of all the implements that were adapted to the
hand which, regarded from a mechanician's point of view, is
worthy of attention. It is that they were grasped whole-handed,
so that when the thrust came upon them it fell on to the
muscular part of the hand. All projections were carefully dressed
from the base of the implement in preparation for this thrust.