Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [110]
In fact, microliths, which occur principally in the Middle and Late Stone Ages, are regarded as a technological advance upon the earlier large handaxe industries. They are typical of Homo sapiens, and are identified with highly evolved cultural activities such as agriculture and bow-and-arrow hunting. For example, Gowlett (1984, p. 145) stated that “the tools were sometimes fitted end-to-end, in a row, into a curved blade desirable in a sickle.” Therefore, small size alone should not lead one to label stone flakes “unconvincing” as tools.
Coles himself (1968, p. 29) noted that one should be careful in ruling out human workmanship simply because stone objects do not appear convincing: “it must be born in mind that a number of the flakes from a site such as Vértesszölös . . . might also not have been accepted as demonstrating human workmanship if they had not been found on an undoubted working floor, in association with other human activities.”
Is there any evidence at Foxhall, in addition to the flaked flints, that might lend support to a human presence? The answer to this question is yes. First of all, the variety of flints and flakes found at Foxhall suggested a workshop location. Second, Moir noted the presence of burned stones, a sign that fire had been used at the site. And, finally, as previously noted, a fully human jawbone was recovered at Foxhall, from the same levels that contained the stone implements.
Confronted with this uncomfortable fact, Coles (1968, p. 28) lapsed into the reflexlike response typical of scientists with strong preconceptions about what might and might not be found in strata of certain ages: “As far as Foxhall is concerned, the presence of the jawbone, quite clearly Homo sapiens, suggests disturbance of some sort. Perhaps local landslip has occurred, bringing an upper Crag deposit on top of a recent land surface, which itself overlay Crag sands in situ.” But Coles did not provide any actual geological evidence that such a “landslip” had actually occurred. Coles’s proposal adds nicely to our collection of examples demonstrating how scientists adhering to the particular view of human evolution now in vogue must often engage in speculative mental exercises in order to bring anomalous evidence within the bounds of an acceptable time frame.
But despite his generally negative opinion about Moir’s discoveries, Coles nevertheless felt that three particular implements were worthy of further study. These were: (1) “the undoubted handaxe apparently from the Cromer Till at Sidestrand in Norfolk” (Coles 1968, p. 29); (2) a handaxe from the Stone Bed at Whitlingham; and (3) a handaxelike implement from the detritus bed below the Red Crag at Bramford. According to Coles (1968, p. 29), these three objects were the “one positive source of support for Moir’s views.” Otherwise, Coles felt that Warren’s iceberg hypothesis was essentially correct.
Here we would like to emphasize that we do not share Coles’s suspicion that Warren’s highly speculative iceberg hypothesis is preferable to the findings of the international commission of geologists and anthropologists, who held that Moir’s implements were definitely made by humans. Therefore, we do not believe that the final decision about Moir’s discoveries must rest solely on the interpretation of the three test specimens mentioned by Coles. Nevertheless, they are significant, and we shall now examine them, beginning with the Sidestrand find.
Moir (1923, p. 135) gave this description of the Sidestrand handaxe discovery (Figure 3.17): “The specimen was discovered lying upon its flat undersurface, and firmly embedded in