Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [101]
Of one such specimen ( Figure3.10), Warren (1920, p. 248) stated: “This, a good example of a trimmed-flake point, is the most remarkable specimen of the group.
Figure 3.10.S. Hazzledine Warren said that this object, which he believed to be the product of natural pressure flaking, almost exactly resembled a Mousterian trimmed point implement ( MacCurdy 1924b, p. 657). But although found in an Eocene formation, it could in fact be of human manufacture.
If considered by itself, upon its own apparent merits, and away from its associates and the circumstances of its discovery, its Mousterian affinities could scarcely be questioned. But, like all the other specimens illustrated, I dug it out of the Bullhead bed myself in circumstances which preclude the possibility of mistake.” In this connection George Grant MacCurdy, director of the American School of Prehistoric Research in Europe, wrote: “Warren states that if the best selected flakes from the Bullhead Bed were mingled with flakes from a prehistoric workshop floor, they could never be separated again unless it were by their mineral condition” (1924b, pp. 657–658).
Much depends upon whether or not the flaking on Warren’s specimens actually resembled that of Paleolithic humans. If the flaking was different, then Warren’s argument against Moir becomes irrelevant. If, on the other hand, the flaking was similar, then what are we to make of specimens, such as the one depicted in Figure 3.10, which are so very much like accepted Paleolithic stone tools?
Warren appeared to take for granted, in a fashion typical of those who shared his prejudices, that it was impossible to find in Eocene strata implements of human manufacture, particularly those displaying a relatively high level of stoneflaking technique. Moir, as we have seen, expressed the same view—no toolmaking beings could have existed in the Eocene (Section 3.3.3). But those who are free from such prejudices might justifiably wonder whether Warren had actually discovered, in the Eocene strata of Essex, a genuine object of human manufacture.
A similar event occurred some years earlier in France, where H. Breuil, in attempting to prove the natural origin of eoliths by geological pressure, also found in an Eocene formation specimens exactly resembling Late Paleolithic stone tools (Section 3.4.2). Breuil, however, was convinced that humans could not have existed in the Eocene.
As we noted in a previous chapter (Section 2.9), T. McKenny Hughes also expressed a conviction that humans could not have existed as far back as the Eocene, despite the presence in an Eocene formation of pierced shark’s teeth like those made by today’s inhabitants of the South Pacific. Other finds of objects of human manufacture in formations that might be as old as the Eocene occurred in California (Section 5.5). In this context, Warren’s Bullhead Bed discoveries, if regarded as genuine implements, do not seem so out of place.
In the discussion that followed Warren’s report, Mr. Dewey, one of the scientists present, pointed out that in some cases the Kent eoliths and Moir’s rostro-carinates are found in the middle of Tertiary sedimentary beds and not directly on the hard chalk. This circumstance, said Dewey, would rule out the particular pressure explanation given by Warren.
Warren had displayed some specimens during his talk. But Reginald Smith complained that Warren (and Breuil in France) had compared their natural productions with only a few of the very poorest eolith specimens. Smith accused Warren of discouraging research in early deposits.
The record stated: “Mr. H. Bury thought it unfortunate that such a discussion should have been raised without a fair