VII. Theoretical considerations on the conditions under which the (drift) deposits containing the remains of extinct mammalia and flint implements were accumulated, and on their geological age. - On the Loess of the valleys of the South of England, and of the Somme and the Seine

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Abstract
In the paper I had the honour to lay before the Royal Society in May 1859, on the occurrence of Flint Implements in France and in England associated with the remains of extinct mammalia, I postponed the consideration of the theoretical questions involved, to allow time for a more complete investigation of the physical phenomena. The facts I sought on that occasion to establish were,—1, the artificial nature of the Flint-implements; 2, their occurrence in undisturbed ground; 3, their contemporaneity with the extinct animals; and 4, their postglacial origin. Subsequent researches by myself and other geologists have confirmed my views upon these several points. When I first visited Amiens in 1859, the opinion I formed was that the St. Acheul gravel-beds were deposited before those of St. Roch, and that the excavation of the Somme valley was of intermediate date; but I hesitated to adopt this view until facts could be obtained for a surer decision. The upper section at Montiers, however, which I discovered in 1861, was conclusive as to the relative ages of the two gravels. I had further considered that, supposing even this relation to be established, it was possible for the excavation of the valley to have been partly the result of some exceptional agencies, by which the interval of time between the formation of the beds of St. Acheul and those of St. Roch might have been shortened. But after repeated visits to the several districts during the last three years, and looking at the question from every point of view, I find myself unable to discover a sufficient explanation in the direction in which I first sought for one, and have been led to form conclusions respecting the causes in operation differing considerably on some points from those I at one time thought to be the more probable.

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