Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race

Prestwich (1895, p. 621) first described the Kent Plateau, as it existed in the Pliocene epoch: “It then, was a high level plain of chalk covered by argillaceous [clayey] and drift beds, which thus became furrowed by the escaping rainfall; and as the furrows gradually deepened they ended in the formation of the existing chalk valleys. It will, therefore, be seen that these valleys must be newer than the hills through which they are cut, and consequently that the beds of sand and gravel, with the remains of extinct mammalia, together with the flint implements of Palaeolithic man, found in these valleys, must also be newer than the drift scattered on the summit of those hills.”

It was in the Plateau drift that the eoliths were to be found. Prestwich distinguished them from Paleolithic implements. Paleolithic implements were very elaborately worked into recognizable tool and weapon forms. Describing the much more crudely fashioned eoliths, Prestwich (1895, p. 622) wrote: “Other scrapers have been formed out of split Tertiary flint-pebbles, sometimes split naturally, and at other times artificially. The edges are trimmed generally all round, so as to act as a rough scraper in whatsoever position the pebble may best be held. At the present day a similar practice prevails among some North American Indians, who, whenever in want of a scraper, select a pebble, which they split and then trim the edges. They rarely keep the old scraper, fresh ones being so easily obtained. This tool is called a pashoa, or scraper, and is used by the Shoshone Indians to dress skins.”

Prestwich then pointed out that these rude Eolithic implements from the Pliocene Plateau drifts had features that distinguished them from rude implements that might be found in more recent deposits. “But says one critic, rudeness of form is no test of age, and leaves it to be inferred that these specimens are no older than other rude forms of later ages. Who of the advocates of the plateau implements ever said that it was? I know of none. We particularly remarked in 1892 that rudeness of form alone was no proof of antiquity, and that there were plenty of very rude specimens of the valley types. We would again emphasise the fact that there are rude implements not only of the valley gravels, but also of neolithic times, whilst among the stone implements of living savages there are many as rude as those of the plateau group” (Prestwich

1895, p. 624).

Prestwich (1895, p. 624) went on to say: “Each epoch had, however, its typical forms, and these are broadly persistent, howsoever rude the specimens may be. In the neolithic period axe and chisel shapes predominate; in the valley gravels the long pointed and spatula-shaped implements are characteristic of the period; and in the plateau group various forms for scraping and hammering prevail. There are, no doubt, pointed forms in the plateau group, but they have a different cachet from those of the valley group, as these again differ from those of the subsequent Stone period. There are, besides, certain generalised forms which persist throughout all the periods, though perhaps varying a little in some minor details. Simple flakes likewise, more or less worked, are found in all three periods.”

Prestwich then pointed out that many Eolithic implements had been found not on the surface but in excavations into the drift deposits. Of these drift deposits on the Plateau, Prestwich (1895, p. 624) stated: “The drift on that surface is certainly not of local origin, as is shown by the presence in it of fragments of strata derived from the hills some miles distant to the south.” As previously noted, the drift could only have arrived in its present position on the Plateau before the chalk valleys, which now intervene between the Plateau and the southern hills, were excavated.

Answering the charge that the eoliths were perhaps naturefacts rather than artifacts, Prestwich (1895, p. 625) stated: “It has also been frequently asserted that these implements are natural forms produced by the friction of the shingle on the shore or in the beds of rivers. Challenged to show any such natural specimens, those who have made the assertion have been unable, although nearly three years have elapsed since the challenge was given, to bring forward a single such specimen. If, moreover, implements were formed in that manner, they should be found in gravel beds of all ages and origins. So far from running water having this constructive power, the tendency of it is to wear off all angles, and reduce the flint to a more or less rounded pebble.”