Towards the north the descents are equally sudden, and the panorama of the Vale of Pickering, extending from the hills behind Scarborough to Helmsley far away in the west, is most remarkable. Down below lies the circumscribed plain, dead-level except for one or two isolated hillocks. The soil is dark and rich, and there is a marshy appearance everywhere, showing plainly the waterlogged condition of the land even at the present day, reminding us of the fact, discovered through the patient work of such geologists as Professor Kendall, that this level vale, surrounded on all sides by enclosing hills, was in prehistoric times a great lake overflowing into the Vale of York through the narrow valley where the ruins of Kirkham Abbey now stand. Towards Holderness, the inner curve of the crescent of chalk hills slopes gently downwards, a fact easily explained by the continuation of the cretaceous stratum beneath the boulder clay of the surface over the whole of the south-eastern corner of the county. There is scarcely a district in England to compare with the Yorkshire Wolds for its remarkable richness in the remains of Early Man. As long ago as the middle of last century, when archæology was more of a pastime than a science, this corner of the country had become famous for the rich discoveries in tumuli made by a few local enthusiasts. That the finds were made then, and not later, is a matter of some regret to the archæologists of to-day, for with the vastly improved knowledge of the methods and habits of Neolithic man existing to-day, more facts could, no doubt, have been discovered from the priceless material then brought to light. However that may be, sufficient careful exploration and classification has been done to show that a very large population must have dwelt on the Wolds in Neolithic times. Although it is almost impossible to assign any reason for the limitation, these early people appear to have chiefly occupied the area between Filey, Flamborough, Huggate, and Middleton-in-the-Wolds. Flint implements of this same New Stone Age have also been found in great abundance in the neighbourhoods of Malton, Pickering, and Scarborough.