It may seem a paradox, but it is nevertheless true, that more is known of the remote Palæolithic period than of the later Stone Age that ended about 4000 years ago. This applies to the Continent as well as to Britain, but Scandinavia is exceptional, and for our present purpose the best subject of investigation. The accepted view is that the three Baltic kingdoms were uninhabited in Quaternary times, and could only be approached by man after the last, or Baltic, glaciation had come to an end. There are certain facts inexplicable on that hypothesis, but all will agree that the Neolithic period in that area can be divided into early and late divisions; and so rich are the prehistoric remains and so advanced is this study, that the Scandinavian system can be used as a touch-stone by which to test the facts and theories of our own later Stone Age. I propose, therefore, on the present occasion to deal in some detail with the latest results of Scandinavian research, and then to proceed in order with the districts that face us across the North Sea and the Channel—North-west Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Northern France. It is hoped that such a survey will enable a more rigid classification to be made of the large amount of British material referred to the Neolithic period. In this country one has to rely mainly on form, but in Scandinavia that element is combined with others, such as habitation-sites, shell-mounds, and megalithic remains that furnish proof of the succession of forms, and open up the question of relations with Britain at that early date. If the claims already made on that head be valid, then comparisons become possible, and certain stages at least of the period in question can be arranged on scientific lines.

It is generally recognised by students of prehistory that, with the close of Acheulean times, a new method of flint implement-making came into vogue. The Acheulean implements which are found in various ancient valley gravels and other deposits represent the culmination of the long-continued coup de poing or hand-axe industry, in which the well-known pointed and oval palæolithic implements were made. These specimens were produced by so modifying a nodule of flint, by the removal of flakes, that the implement, in its final form, represented the core or central portion of the original nodule.

Early in 1917, when near Abbeville for a few days, I carried out certain expeditions with the idea of searching the river gravels around that district. As any form of trenching was out of the question owing to the time at my disposal, I had to content myself with surface finds.

In this I was very successful, finding no fewer than 144 implements and some 300 odd worked flakes in 3 days. The patination of the implements, from this site, ranges from pure white to a yellow-white shade. The patination in non-lustrous and in most cases the implements are heavily stained with iron.

No implement was found with any trace of polish and all were unrolled. The site, which lies S.E. of the village of Hallencourt (Dept. Somme), was very restricted, extending about 200 square yards, outside of which no trace of implements or worked flakes was to be found, although many flints existed. Captain Malcolm, R.A.M.C., and myself searched the lower surface and found nothing, all the finds being on the highest ground. The site is between the 100 metres and the 120 metres contour line, and at the actual spot is 109 metres (357.5 feet), as near as can be ascertained.

On the summit of a hill one mile west of the little town of Milverton and nine, miles from Taunton, I discovered in November, 1915, the site of what appears to have been an important settlement in prehistoric times, a considerable quantity of flint flakes and fragments being scattered over a surface of 15 acres or so.

The site is admirably suited for a defensive position; the highest point is 534 feet above sea level, and although this is not a great altitude for West Somerset it commands an excellent prospect of the surrounding country. Practically the whole of the Vale of Taunton Dean is seen to the east; on the north-east, the entire length of the Quantocks; due north, the valley between the Quantocks and the Brendons which leads to the Bristol Channel, and to the south the flat-topped range of the Blackdowns. Although the site itself is fairly level, the ground falls away steeply on every side except the south and south-east, where the downward slope is gentle. I have not been able to find any traces of earthworks, though there are British circular hill-forts in the adjoining parishes of Bathealton and Wiveliscombe.

It is now some considerable time since the attention of the archæological world was directed to the discovery of a series of flint implements of a peculiar and novel type to which Sir Ray Lankester gave the descriptive name rostro-carinate. These particular implements, as their name implies, bear, in their anterior region, a marked resemblance to the beak of an accipitrine bird, and also to the prow of a boat, the boat being turned keel upwards. Both Sir Ray Lankester and the author have, from time to time, published papers on these specimens (1), and the latter has lately put forward reasons for believing that the rostro-carinate was the ancestral form of, and gradually developed into, the well-known Chellian palæolithic implements of rhomboidal section (2). Since the first discovery of these beak-like flaked flints, and the spreading abroad of a knowledge of their characteristics, a number of similar specimens have been found in parts of England other than Suffolk and Norfolk, where they were first discovered, and it may be said that the fact of their occurrence over a very wide area is established. The author has seen and examined rostro-carinate flint implements from Warren Hill, Suffolk; the Thames and Lea Valleys (3); Lakenheath, Suffolk (4); Savernake, Wiltshire (5); Selsey Bill, Sussex; Kent's Cavern; the North of Ireland; France and Egypt (6). Dr. Peake has also described and figured rostro-carinate implements found by him in Oxfordshire (7). It must not be imagined, however, that all the specimens from the aforementioned places are of the same age, for it is clear that the “fashion” of making rostrocarinates, though very much in vogue in Pliocene and early Pleistocene times, was not confined solely to these periods, but occurs sporadically in later cultures. And this is in accord with what we know of the occurrence of other types of flint implements.

Though it is now impossible to trace a connected road from end to end, there is little doubt that a series of trackways between Norfolk and Wiltshire have from very early times been known as the Icknield Way, and it is highly probable that originally they provided through communication between the south-west of England and the Norfolk coast. These trackways appear to be prehistoric, to have been utilised but never re-made by the Romans, avoiding the upper levels of the hills and skirting the slopes where the forest presumably ended. The adjacent country is dotted with hill-forts, barrows, and remains of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

In the autumn of 1913, Mr. T. C. Cantrill, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey, drew the writer's attention to the possibility of finding flint artefacts in the surface soils of Hinckley and neigh-bourhood wherever the chalky boulder clays and gravels were in evidence. During his survey of the drift in this district in that and the following year, he himself found a lozenge-shaped scraper (No. 163, Plate LXVIII) in a field at Sapcote, and also five spalls of unmistakable human origin in other neighbouring localities.

In the winter of that year, Mr. F. C. Grimes and I began a systematic search which by the following spring had resulted in sufficient material to encourage us to further efforts, and the following notes are the result of a by no means exhaustive survey during that and the two following winters.

In the Proceedings for 1915–16, Vol. II., p. 230, evidence was given which seems to show that the chipped flints of Windmill Hill, Avebury, belong to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Thirtynine implements were illustrated, bearing very close resemblance to specimens from Grime's Graves, illustrated in the Report; and showing that the same types were made, and that the same style of workmanship prevailed at both sites. The conclusion was drawn that Grime's Graves is not earlier than the Neolithic Age.

In the Proceedings for 1916–17, Vol. II., p. 339, in an important paper, Mr. W. G. Clarke gave other evidence supporting the view of a Neolithic date for Grime's Graves.

In the present paper, further evidence is brought forward pointing to Neolithic (and Bronze Age) dates for the Windmill Hill flints, and, therefore, also, for Grime's Graves; by reason, as aforesaid, of the close resemblance between the chipped flints from the two sites.

This question has been discussed at length by Mr. F. N. Haward in two papers published in the “Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia,” and if I have understood his views correctly, he holds the opinion that there is not at present any evidence in existence in favour of the pre-Palæolithic antiquity of man. Such a conclusion, in view of the large number of thoughtful archæologists and others who think otherwise, is somewhat startling, and, if well founded, of undoubted importance. It seems to be necessary, therefore, to examine the scientific data upon which Mr. Haward bases his conclusions.

In the last number of our Proceedings (Vol. II., Part 3) our President, Mr. Reginald Smith, F.S.A., communicated a paper on “Plateau Deposits and Implements,” in which he produced facts to show that the Plateau Gravels are not sterile, as has hitherto been supposed. He cites in this paper two spots within a few miles of my centre at Rotherfield Peppard, viz., Blagrave's Farm, 1½ miles N.W. of Caversham Bridge, 149-ft. above the Thames, and Highlands Farm, 1 mile S.E. of Rotherfield Greys Church, 170-ft. above the river.

During the last few years I have searched the pits and surface within a wide radius of Peppard, and have been fortunate in finding some implements, forming the subject of this paper, which are certainly of Palæolithic date. The whole of the ground in this neighbourhood is mapped as either Plateau gravel or clay with flints—the former forming a wide spread over this part of the high Chiltern country, as may be seen on the model in the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London. I have not yet succeeded in finding any palæoliths in situ, but have found series of edge-trimmed flakes and chipped forms of rostro-carinate type, which will be included in another paper.