The deepest borings in Lincolnshire have not yet reached the fiery or igneous rocks in situ, except in the Isle of Axholme; therefore those fragments of igneous rocks found on the surface, or in the soil, or in glacial clays, indicate that they have been transported from their original source, which, in certain instances, is as far distant as Norway.
Since the melting of the most recent glacier, other great changes have taken place in the surface of the land, owing to elevations and depressions, and the action of rain, frost, and denudation over wide areas.
A vast forest (now submerged) formerly existed right along the edge of the east coast of Lincolnshire; at specially low tides it is seen exposed at Chapel St. Leonards, Ingoldmells, and other places on the East Coast.
When the Romans came to Britain, and began their conquest or occupation of Lincolnshire, A.D. 50, they found extensive portions in the south-east of the county covered by great meres stretching many miles in extent. In the south-western part of the county were extensive forests; in the north-western part of the county was the island, now called the Isle of Axholme; but during the Roman occupation, and for centuries afterwards, were vast sheets of fresh water, with here and there an island or islet standing out above the surrounding meres. On the eastern side of the county, along the sea-board, the Romans built extensive banks or sea walls.
Prior to the Roman occupation of Lincolnshire, a race or different races of people lived in the land we now know as the county of Lincolnshire; and it is of this period that we write regarding the earliest known races of mankind in the county.
The different races of mankind in the Prehistoric Ages or Periods have been tabulated as—
- 1. The Eolithic Man, or Dawn of the Stone Age.
- 2. The Paleolithic Man, or the Old Stone Age, subdivided by Professor Dawkins as (a) The River Drift Man and (b) Cave Man.[2]
- 3. The Neolithic Man, or New Stone Age.
- 4. The Pygmy Man.
- 5. The Bronze Age, subdivided as Early and Late Bronze Periods.
- 6. The Prehistoric Iron Age.
- 7. The Iron Age of the Roman Period.
We will deal with each of these races separately as they concern Lincolnshire.
The Eolithic Period
Of this period no traces of the work of mankind have been found in the county of Lincolnshire.