EARLY MAN THERE is probably no branch of science which has made more striking progress during the last few decades than that of Pre- historic Archaeology, We have only to glance at the pages of topographical books, or even of works avowedly dealing with archaeology and written sixty or seventy years ago, in order to realize how vague and inaccurate (in the light of present-day knowledge) were the ideas then prevalent on the subject of the early races of man and other cognate matters. In view of this widespread ignorance of, and even lack of interest in. Prehistoric Science, it is hardly surprising that Rutland, with its limited area and small population, should have long remained an almost entirely neglected field of investigation so far as Early Man is concerned. Hence the pages of such standard works as those of Sir John Evans may be searched in vain for any reference to the county, and even now, though the fact of the occupation of the district by man in the prehistoric period has been placed beyond a doubt, the list of finds, compared with those of most counties, is scanty and insignificant. The accepted classification of the prehistoric period is that into four divisions : — 1. The Palaeolithic or Older Stone Age. 2. The Neolithic or Newer Stone Age, 3. The Bronze Age. 4. The Early Iron Age. At present only the second and third of these divisions can with certainty be said to be represented in Rutland. The Palaeolithic Age Of remains of the Palaeolithic period it is perhaps questionable whether Rutland is likely to yield any examples. The coarsely chipped and invari- ably unpolished stone implements characteristic of this period have been found for the most part either in river-drift deposits or in caves. Of these two classes Rutland possesses but very few of the former and none at all of the latter. The Memoir of the Geological Survey of Rutland and adjacent parts by Mr. J. W. Judd, F.G.S. (1875), states that no implements of the river-drift type have yet been found within the limits of Sheet 64 of the i-in. Geological Survey Map. This statement must certainly now be modified with regard to part of the area named, and it is possible that it may also ultimately be falsified as regards Rutland. I 81 II
