50 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
e. Pottery.
f. Pierced hammers, axes and maces.
g. Burials, earthworks, hearths, etc.
A total of about 120 localities has been recorded, of which
32 yielded flakes and miscellaneous implements, 26 polished
celts, 25 chipped celts, 7 arrow heads, 8 pottery, 15 pierced
implements, 3 skeletons or parts of skeletons, 2 hearths and
other unclassified remains. This list is still in course of com-
pilation and is by no means complete. It does not include the
specimens in the museums at Chingford and Chelmsford, and
there are still a number of serial publications to be examined.
When examined in detail it was found that the records of
sites were extremely unsatisfactory. In seventy cases the names
of the parish or town only is given, with no data whatever relat-
ing to the site. In many other cases the data are entirely inade-
quate; for example, "under the roots of a tree on the Bycullah
Park Estate," or "on a heap of stones picked off a field at Gills
Farm," does not help much. Even where the site is described
in satisfactory detail there is a certain coyness in indicating its
exact position which is, perhaps, understandable, but hardly
scientific. In few cases only was a map of the site given and
the exact position of the site indicated.
In the past, the attention of the Archaeologist has been devoted
mainly to the consideration of the implements, etc., found, and
with certain notable exceptions the study of the site itself has
been considered of little importance. In many cases the find
has consisted of a single striking object, a celt, a pierced hammer,
or an arrow head, picked from the furrow by the farmer and
its exact locality forgotten by the time it reached the hands
of the specialist. The paucity of records of sites where a
quantity of worked flints can be obtained is also significant
and points to the fact that considerable areas of the County
are still unsurveyed.
One may regard the study of surface implements of the
Neolithic type as the Cinderella of Pre-history. The wonderful
story of the Palaeolithic hunters, as revealed in the caverns and
rock shelters of the continent, and the striking controversies
centering round the pre-palaeolithic remains of East Anglia and
elsewhere, have diverted the attention of the savants from
Neolithic man, and in this country at least but little attention