The Elbert County tribune., 1913-02-14

''the high plateau gravels" as much as 700 feet
above sea level. The Oldest of all these graves
is very possibly of Pliocene age, and is not
lated to the Thames valley other existing
river valleys. which OF later date than they
are. The gravel at Uck1eld (Pltdown) In which
the human jaw was found is only 120 feet above
sea level. and not far from the River Ouse.
which flows past Lewes. Probably a high pla-
teau gravel existed on the top of the chalk
which once stretched the Sussex Weald,
and the gravels deposited much later at low
levels after the wearing away of the great mass
of chalk lying the Wealden beds contain
some material derived from these Oldest and
highest gravels, and also some of the gravel de-
posted In every successive age the erosion
continued. So that this bottom gravel on the
Sussex plain. only 100 feet above sea level is
likely to contain mixture and assortment of all
the preceding graves.
Hence it is very difficult to assign the bones
and the worked fints fshaped by mani found
in 1t to definite age ANY fragment we nick
up may be old as the plateau grayes which
lay on the top of the chalk in the very early
Pleistocene Or late Pliocene age, or may belong
to as late period that of the actual deposit
of the gravel bed in which we now find 1t i'm
bedded.
The gravel about Piltdown is SO thin layer
that 1t escaped attention from the officers of the
Geological Survey 1t became known to Mr.
Dawson by the fact that local farmers were dig
ging 1t and sitting It for mending roads, 1t
only exists on slightly raised parts of the valley
OF the Ouse, and its makeup" is very peculiar.
1t contains iron-stone and deeply stained
from the Wealden strata which 1t rests, and
peculiar ruddy-brown broken fints not very
numerous, which are nearly all bits of "tabu-
lar flint. recalling those of the high plateau
gravel at Ightham in Kent
Many of the fints In this Piltdown gravel have
been worked by early man into rough imple-
ments They are of fiat shape often triangular
in area, and show but unmistakable
'faking" of human workmanship. and my COM
panions picked up four from the surface of a
uh on xrcttA
rougher in workmanship than the Acheuillian or
even Chellean implements of our better known
river terrace gravels 1t is impossible to asso
ciate them with those from any other locality
known to me; and should merely say to them
that they seem to be earlier than any flint i'm
plements which can be rightly called Che!lean
Later and more finely worked flint implements
have not been found in this gravel.
But the most remarkable thing about this
gravel is the discovery in it. by DR.. Smith Wood
ward and Mr.. Dawson, of fragment of a tooth
of mastodon and of fragments of teeth of the
Elephas neutrality-suspicious. which were ex-
hibited to the Geological society
These two animals are known to occur In PHO
Gene strata--and are not found as late as the
Pleistocene Tin this part of the world The
teeth OF the elephant In question very differ
ent from those of the mammoth They are found
also In the Norfolk forest-bed and in one or two
"fssures' in the South Downs filled In by an
cient sands. The remains of this elephant
abound in the Pliocene of France and italy
few fragmentary teeth of hippopotamus a
beaver and horse. bit of large deers antler
and the human jaw and skull fragment complete
the list of animal remains. 1t is owing to the