The Ossiferous Fissures in the Valley of the Shode, near Ightham, Kent

W. J. Lewis Abbott (1)

1 The Geological Society

Introduction : "Doubless there are many geologists in common with myself who have recognized the fact that, if the surface of the Wealden area has been subject to the oscillations claimed for it, then, considering the unyielding nature of the lime- and sandstones, we ought to find innumerable fissures, and by the law of chances these cought sometimes to occur in positions favourable to the preservation of those heterogeneous colections of objects that find their way into the drainers of a country. These are few, perhaps, who realize what a motley group of curiosities are to be found in large streams, unless they have spent some considerable time in walking between the tide-marks of a river in its lower reaches. It is not often conceived how large a portion of the life of to-day could be rescued from such a wreck. Here may be found bones of animals by the cartload, and the hard parts and druit of vegetation, both terrestrial and aquatic. The principal non-marine mollusca are also represented, although the majority of shels are usually of aquatic species. To appreciate the profusion of these relics one need only travel for the same period over land-surfaces and note the difference of the result. I have frequently paced scores of miles over fields, foot by foot chiefly in search of implements, without finding a single bone of an animal of either terrestrial or aquatic habits. "

Mots clés: Nineteenth Century; Paleolithic Period; Shode Valley; Kent (UK); Ightham

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

W. J. Lewis Abbott. The Ossiferous Fissures in the Valley of the Shode, near Ightham, Kent. Quaterly Journal of the Geological Society, 1894, 1, pp.171-187. ⟨10.1144/GSL.JGS.1894.050.01-04.16⟩. ⟨halshs-00741411⟩