The question of the artificial or natural origin of the flaking of the Harrisonian Eoliths of tabular form has been debated for many years. The problem is of considerable importance because Eoliths of this type have been found not only in deposits on the high plateau of Kent and in the Pliocene Bone Bed beneath the Red Crag of Suffolk but also in the Upper Miocene gravel at Aurillac, in the Cantal, France. Thus, if these specimens are flaked artificially, it means that intelligent beings were on this earth in very remote pre-Pleistocene times. As is known, certain investigators reject the idea that the Harrisonian Eoliths are intentionally flaked, and claim that they were fractured as the result of natural percussion or pressure. Other observers take the opposite view and not only believe these flints to have been intentionally flaked, but regard such an Eolithic stage as a fundamental necessity in the evolution of flint implements. From time to time the discoveries of isolated implements of Eolithic type have been made in Palaeolithic and later deposits, thus demonstrating the survival of these primitive forms long into Eolithic times.

It may be remembered that some years ago, in a paper read before this Society, ‘Equestrian Aquamaniles’ were divided into three groups, according to the mode of exit of the water from the vessel, which groups were arranged as follows:

Group I. Exit from the mouth of the horse, A.D. 1180–1270.

Group II. Exit from the forehead of the horse, A.D. 1270–1350.

Group III. Exit from the chest of the horse, A.D. 1350–1450.

The equestrian aquamanile now to be considered, which has a dark, lustrous patina, measures 11½ in. in length and 12¾ in. in height and belongs to group II and to that subdivision in which the head and body of the rider are turned to one side.

The iron stirrup and pottery vessel recorded here were found at Rabley Heath, Hertfordshire, in September 1938. Rabley Heath is a heath only in name, for to-day it is divided into fields interspersed with much woodland. It is situated about a mile south of Knebworth and two miles north of Welwyn, at an altitude of less than 600 ft.; the soil is Boulderclay overlying the chalk. To the south-west the land falls to the Mimram valley, and in the opposite direction to the southern end of the Hitchin Gap which cuts through the extension of the Chiltern Hills along the north edge of Hertfordshire.

Early medieval spoons are sufficiently rare to make any addition to their number a matter of interest. The specimen illustrated on pl. lxi, a and fig. I was found in London and is now in the Guildhall Museum, to the authorities of which I am indebted for permission to publish it. Dr. P. Nørland, whose publication of the double spoon from Ribe underlies much of what follows, provided the original of pl. LXII; and Dr. S. Grieg has allowed me to reproduce pl. LXV from his invaluable work, Middelalderske Byfunde fra Bergen og Oslo (figs. 52 and 53). I have also to thank Mr. T. D. Kendrick, Mr. R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford, and Mr.G. C. Dunning for several helpful suggestions.