PALAEOLITHIC INDUSTRIES, CLACTON AND DOVERCOURT. 19
Kentish Greensand chert, Elephas antiquus, Cervus
browni, etc. Very rich in the Clactonian industry.
L.C. London Clay presenting an undulating surface.
At "MI" the greenish variegated marl is again seen in an
ancient hollow in the London Clay. Underlying this is a
strongly developed marine horizon, while Pleistocene loam
"P.L." is seen higher up on the foreshore. I have not yet
been able to trace the exact boundaries here, and although I
have not proved the freshwater deposit below the marine
horizon, this site is probably the edge of another loop in the
Clactonian channel.
At or near mid-tide levels the "Lyonesse" surface below
the peat yields Beaker pottery, together with barbed arrow
points and polished axes. That is to say, it belongs to the
epoch that some authorities class as the earliest Bronze age, and
others as the transition between the Stone and Bronze Ages ; the
date being about 2,000 B.C. or a century or two later. At the
lowest levels near low tide the date appears to be very early
Beaker, or pre-Beaker, while at the highest levels near high tide
the date is very late Beaker, or post-Beaker.
The rainwash "R" to the east of "S" has yielded Neolithic
pottery exclusively. I have also found a pit-dwelling with
Neolithic pottery on the lower slopes of the surface "D," near
low-tide.
In other localities on the Essex Coast rainwash in the situation
similar to the point "R" to the east of "S" has yielded the
Mesolithic industry that is dated 5,000 to 4,000 B.C. In yet
other localities precisely similar rainwash has yielded remains
of the Iron Age.
The pure Dutch colony, with its late passage-grave pottery,
which has been identified by Prof. Van Giffen, is of great interest.
It forms a link with the Dutch influence present in the pottery
at Woodhenge in Wiltshire.
There are many silted-up creeks or "swatchways" which
cut nearly down to low tide level and are a risk of error in col-
lecting. Some of these yield nothing much later than the
Beaker, others yield Romano-British or Medieval pottery.
I have never seen the "Elephant-bed" of Walton-on-Naze,
which may represent a continuation of the Clacton channel. On
one occasion I saw a very small patch in Mill Bay, Dovercourt ;