Primæval Man and Working-Men Students

Abstract

I RECEIVED a letter with great pleasure a fortnight ago from four new correspondents, who said they were working-men of Plaistow who had read my notes on Primæval Man in NATURE, had studied the Pitt-Rivers collection, and wished to show me their finds in Essex and have the North-East London position personally explained to them. Sunday having been mentioned as a convenient day, and this being approved by me, my correspondents (Messrs. W. H. Smith, Amos Herring, W. Swain, and Philip Thornhill) came here on Sunday morning, July 29. The stones brought were of great interest, mostly belonging to the Essex positions published by me. One example was a superb, rather large, wedge-shaped, pointed, slightly abraded, and ochreous implement found at Leyton; two were from Plaistow, a locality almost unrepresented in collections; one from West Ham, and other pieces from Wanstead. A somewhat small ovate specimen of great interest was found by one of my correspondents in the gravel excavated for the New Albert Dock, the extension of the Victoria Dock. The object of the greatest interest was a rude scraper-like tool made from a somewhat large piece of tabular flint, and found in gravel excavated between Loughton Railway Station and the “Robin Hood” Tavern, undoubtedly artificial and palæolithic; this ancient gravel is I think usually placed in the Glacial series; the find must be accepted as genuine. I may say here that on the 23rd of this month I found another implement and six flakes in gravel brought from Ware.