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A Century of Stones: Britain's Prehistoric Toolkit

The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain

Sir John Evans inventories every prehistoric stone tool in Britain, effectively inventing the modern manual of archaeology.

Author
by John Evans
Type
science · Archaeology Reference
Published
1897
Length
Exhaustive reference volume
Status
Public domain
The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain summary

What This Is

Sir John Evans presents a meticulous, nearly seven-hundred-page inventory of British stone-age implements. Moving from rough-hewn Paleolithic handaxes to polished Neolithic celts and perforated hammers, the text provides a systematic classification system based on material, shape, and geological site of discovery. Evans draws heavily on private collections, local museums, and the Rev. William Greenwell’s excavations to document the technological evolution of early inhabitants. By analyzing physical striations, edge wear, and depositional layers in river gravels, the work establishes the essential framework for distinguishing human-made tools from natural geofacts, while contextualizing the extreme chronological depth of human activity in the British landscape.

The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain people

Who made this

  • Sir John Evans

    The author who cataloged Britain's prehistoric material culture.

  • Rev. William Greenwell

    A primary contributor of antiquities and archaeological data.

The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain themes & meaning

What it's really about

Chronological Deep Time
Reckoning with the vast age of human debris.
Technological Classification
Ordering tools by physical design and function.

Why it's memorable

  • A stone axe labeled a Purgatory Hammer to knock on afterlife gates.
  • Flint tools resting in river gravels eighty feet above sea level.
The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain bottom line

Bottom line

The reader gains the ability to identify the developmental gap between prehistoric stone-shapers and the eventual onset of the bronze-using era.

The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain discussion questions

For your book club

  1. Why do we call them celts?
  2. Can we distinguish natural flakes from human tools?
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