[15. Antiquities]—Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon.
The earliest evidence of the presence of man in Hertfordshire is afforded, as elsewhere in this country, not by written or sculptured records, but by stone implements of various shapes and types. The very earliest of these implements, at any rate, belong to a time when the mammoth inhabited this country, which was then united to the continent; and their age must be reckoned by thousands, if not by tens of thousands, of years. The period to which all these implements belong, being before all human records, is known as the Prehistoric; and it is important to mention that this term should be restricted to the epoch intervening between the time of the formation of the uppermost portion of the Tertiary beds and the first dawn of history. We often find the term “prehistoric monsters” applied to the great reptiles of the Chalk and Oolites; but such a usage, although etymologically justifiable, is technically wrong.
The Prehistoric period for lack of all other means of dating has been divided by antiquarians, according to the material of which man formed his implements, into the Stone, the Bronze, and the late-Celtic or Iron Ages; the Stone age being further divided into an older, or Palaeolithic, section, in which all the so-called “celts,” or flint implements, were formed simply by chipping, and a newer Neolithic section, in which they were often ground and polished. In connection with these implements attention may be directed to some of the ancient earthworks in the county, although the age of many of these is unknown, and in some cases may be later than the Roman occupation. The antiquities newer than the late-Celtic age are described as referable to the Roman or the Saxon period, as the case may be. These correspond with the history of England from 55 B.C. to 1066 A.D.
Palaeolithic implements are found locally in certain parts of the county, although from the gravels of a very considerable area, especially the Harpenden district, they appear to be absent. The larger implements, or “celts,” which are often six or seven inches in length, seem to have been employed for all purposes, and to have been held in the hand, without handle or shaft, although some of them might easily be used as spear-heads. The first discovery of an implement of this type in the county was made near Bedmond, Abbot’s Langley, in 1861. A few specimens have been obtained in other parts of the Colne basin; but in the district round Kensworth and Caddington vast numbers have been discovered, although for the most part just outside the county boundary. In fact, near Caddington the Stone-age men had a great manufactory of these implements:—a kind of Palaeolithic Sheffield. In the basin of the Lea a few flakes, etc., have been found at or near Ayot St Peter, Welwyn, Hertford, Bengeo, Ware, Amwell, Hoddesdon, Ippolits, Stocking Pelham, and elsewhere. Much more important is a “find” at Hitchin, near the source of the Hiz, and thus situated, in part at any rate, in the Ouse basin. These implements, which were first brought to notice in 1877, occur in clay-pits worked for brick-earth, and are accompanied by bones of the mammoth, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros.
Palaeolithic Flint Implement
(From Kent’s Cavern, Torquay)
