Notes on the Fenland; with A Description of the Shippea ManHughes, Thomas McKenny
Science
Notes on the Fenland; with A Description of the Shippea Man
Hughes, Thomas McKenny
Geology -- England -- Bedford Level
Every step in the line of enquiry we have been following, from whatever
point of view we have regarded the evidence, has forced upon us the
conclusion that a long interval elapsed between the Areniferous and
Turbiferous series as seen in the Fens; and yet, having regard to the
geographical history of the area with which we commenced, we cannot but
feel that the various deposits represent only episodes in a continuous
slow development due to changes of level both here and further afield
and the accidents incidental to denudation.
But the particular deposits which we are examining happen to have been
laid down near sea level where small changes produce great effects. We
may feel assured that over the adjoining higher ground the changes
would have been imperceptible when they were occurring and the results
hardly noticeable.
If the Fen Beds include nearly the whole of the Neolithic stage the
idea that glacial conditions then prevailed over the adjoining higher
ground is quite untenable.
So far everything has taught us that the Fens occupy a well-defined
position in the evolution of the geographical features of East Anglia
and also that the fauna is distinctive, and, having regard to the whole
facies, quite different from that of the sands and gravels which occur
at various levels all round and pass under the Turbiferous Series of
the Fens.
We will now enquire what is the place of these deposits in the
"hierarchy" based upon the remains of man and his handiwork.
No Palaeolithic remains have ever been found in the Fen deposits. We
must not infer from this that there is everywhere evidence of a similar
break or long interval of time between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic
ages. There are elsewhere remains of man and his handiwork which we
must refer to later Palaeolithic than anything found in the Areniferous
Series just near the Fen Beds, and there are, not far off, remains of
man's handiwork which appear to belong to the Neolithic age, but to an
earlier part of it than anything yet found in association with the Fen
Beds.
The newer Palaeolithic remains referred to occur chiefly in caves and
the older Neolithic objects are for the most part transitional forms of
implement found on the surface in various places around but outside the
Fens and in the great manufactures of implements at Cissbury and Grimes
Graves, in which we can study the embryology of Neolithic implements
and observe the development of forms suggested by those of Palaeolithic
age or by nature. The sequence and classification adopted in these
groups, both those of later Palaeolithic and those of earlier Neolithic
age, are confirmed by an examination of the contemporary fauna; the
Areniferous facies prevailing in the caves and the Turbiferous facies
characterising the pits and refuse-heaps of Cissbury and Grimes Graves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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