Abstract
A Hand-Axe from East Anglia.—Mr. J. Reid Moir, in Man for January, figures and describes a hand-axe found last November in the Upper Chalky Boulder Clay at Ipswich. It was dug out of solid clay at a depth of 2 J ft. It was in two pieces, which lay about 15 in. apart. The fracture was ancient and had been caused by thermal action along the line of a weakness in the flint, without doubt at the time of the deposition of the boulder clay. The specimen is typical of the implements found in the Upper Chalky Boulder Clay. In colour it is greyish-black, and shows no sign of patination or abrasion. There are a few ancient striations. The flaking is all of one period. Greatest length 4^ in., greatest breadth 2^f in., greatest thickness 1T^ in., and weight approximately 8J oz. There is now a large body of evidence to show that the Upper Chalky Boulder Clay of East Anglia, representing the third glacial period of this part of the country, was laid down at the close of the Early Mousterian epoch. The flint implements found in the boulder clay have all been derived from other and older deposits torn up by the glacier in its advance. In certain parts of East Anglia sites have been discovered where these deposits have escaped destruction and they have been shown to contain artefacts such as occur in the boulder clay which overlies them. These pre-Upper Chalky Boulder Clay deposits are usually in the form of brick-earth such as have been excavated and studied at Ipswich, Hoxne, and High Lodge. In each of these cases the Upper Chalky Boulder Clay overlies the brick-earth, and in the latter deposit at Hoxne and High Lodge have been found hand-axes of precisely the same type and workmanship as that now described. One found by Mr. Reid Moir at Hoxne in an Early Mousterian floor at the base of the brick-earth under the glacial bed laid down by the Upper Chalky Boulder Clay glacia-tion is almost a duplicate of this specimen. It may now be said that the Early Mousterian period in East Anglia was succeeded by the third glaciation in that area, and that in situ in the Upper Chalky Boulder Clay, which was then laid down, derived flint implements of the Early Mousterian epoch have been unearthed.
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Research Items. Nature 127, 213–215 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127213a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127213a0