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6 34 PROCEEDING , SOCIETYE 189611 TH Y .F O SMA , V. NOTEA DEPOSI N O SF FLINT O T S WORKE A LEAF-SHAPE O T D , FOUND AT BULWARK, OLD DEER, ABERDEENSHIRE. EXHIBITED BY ALEXANDER GRAY DEEIIJOSEPW Y B NE ., H ANDERSON, LL.D., ASSIST. SECKEEPEE MUSEUMD TH AN . F RO . Sometim I hear o ag de fro Alexander mM r Graye Deerw th f Ne , o , discovery of a deposit of flint implements, which excited my curiosity in consequenc f theieo r being describesame th f eo f kind, o l s " da al d an " "an oval form," but "roughly finished." Having asked Mr Gray, in whose possession they were, to be so good as to let me see them and circumstancee th tele m l f theio s r discovery vere h , y obligingly sene th t flints for exhibition to the Society, along with the following narrative of the manner in which they were found :— requesteds "packaga A senu w dyo no eI , containin fline th gt implements found at Bulwark, in the parish of Old Deer, which embraces the whole find, with exception of two that I have been unable to obtain. n accordancI e with your wis knoo ht circumstancee wth s under which they were found, I may say that Old Deer, or Deer, as it was formerly called, is anciene th on f eo t parishe f Buchanso abous i d tan , twelve miles distanta n ,i westerly direction, from Peterhead. The hill of Bulwark is on the western boundary of the parish, and has an elevation of 465 feet. The old castle of Clackriac s abouhi t hal mila f e distant , north-easte lyin Abbeth e o gth t d y an , of Deer about two and a half miles in the same direction ; while the old castle of Federate may be seen to the north-west, about four miles distant. Near weste hille th footh e o ,,f t th lieprimitivo te sth e villag Bulwarkf eo , wheru eyo may stil housee lse s standing built partly with ston partld ean y with turf. On paying a visit to the spot where the flints were discovered, I found an old quarry in the centre of a cultivated field, from which stones for building purpose macadamisind an s roade gbeeth d sha n taken s deptit : abous hi 5 1 t feet, whil e circumferencth e e would exten forto dt y yard r therebyo s s i t I . cultivate wese th ver te n othee dsido th yth o et brinkn r o side d ,an ; where eth find was got, there are a number of square feet around the edge lying barren, apparently never having been undee wise th th f r ho cultivation w no s i t I . proprieto e quarrth d brinfilp o t u ryl an e whol gth e field under cultivation, thar fo t d purpos materiae an th l eal l tha requires i t beins i d g taken froe mth bank, so as to gradually bring it up to the surface level. The bank is composed of loose drift stone variouf so s sizesdepte th thref o h,t o r foueo r feet whild an ; e NOTEDEPOSIA N O ?F FLINTSO T . 347 one of the Deer district road contractors was providing stones for tlie repair of the roads one of his workmen came upon these implements about nine inches belo surfacee wth , lyin n associatiogi n betwee stoneo ntw f abouso inchex si t s square, but without any covering, as far as he was able to ascertain. Along with these circulaa ther s ewa r disc, which unfortunatel f , thinkino yhe s wa t gi no importance, threw away, and cannot now find it; besides, there was a quantity of flint chips, which were burie considerabla o dt e depth." The flint thirty-foue ar s r in number, varying from 3| inche lengtn si h | binchey1 breadtn i s 1o t h| inche roughll lengthn si al d yan , dressed Fig . Threthirty.fou1 e . th f eo r Implements foun t Bulwarkda Deerd Ol , , Aberdeenshire. ta oleaf-shape I hav. e selecte e threth d e here figureds a (fig ) 1 . typical of the general form and finish of the implements. e wholOth f e thirty-four implements cherta ,f eigho ye stonar t d ean twenty-six of flint, about half of these being of brownish flint, and the other half greyish, inclining to white. The greater number are merely flaked to a leaf-shape, but a few are also roughly worked to both edges. The occurrence of this interesting deposit is suggestive of some curious problem n Scottisi s h archaeology e sourc.th f o Firstt o e s a , 8 34 PROCEEDING , E SOCIETY189611 TH Y .F O SMA , materialw ra supplknows e i th t i ,f yo n that therchalo n s eki formation Scotlann i d from whic unlimiten a h d suppl f flinyo t coul obtainede b d , and hence the supply of the raw material is much more limited, both as to the size of the nodules and the frequency of their occurrence, than in England and Ireland, where the natural supply from the chalk-beds exists. Consequently e relativth , e number f flino s t implemente th f so larger varieties, such as axes, spear-heads, and the leaf-shaped knives, Scotlandn i w fe e ,ar whil smallee eth r varieties, suc arrow-heads ha d san scrapers e abundante inhabitantar th , t e Buchath Bu f . o sn district could never have had much difficulty in obtaining a supply of flint sufficient for their needs, and probably also sufficient to furnish a supply for exchange wit e nativehth f otheso r districts less favourably situated with respece naturath material w o t ra t l supple th . f o yTher n i s i e Buchan a drift deposit of the denuded remains probably of an old chalk formation which extends from the coast near Peterhead to a distance of eigh r nino t e miles inland d patche an e ,sam th f drifo s ef o naturt e occu n somi r e other localitie e Aberdeenshirth n o s e s thui coast t sI . described by Mr T. F. Jamieson :1— " The source from which the natives of the Buchan district might have obtained their flints can readily be pointed out. There is a low, moory ridge, extending from the coast near Peterhead for about eight or nine miles inland, to a place called the Bog of Ardallie. The height of this ridge is from nearly l overspreafee0 al 30ts 50 i abovo 0t t i seae d edth an , with water-worn pebbles of flint, generally in greatest abundance along the crest of the ridge. These flints have been derived from f chal o som d k ebe tha t probably once existed there, as the characteristic fossils of the Chalk period may be detected in them. fline Th t grave severas i l l feet thic somn ki en placesexampler De fo e , th ,as n ,i of Boddam. Patches of the same nature occur in a few other spots in the north-eastern part of Aberdeenshire, but nowhere in anything like the same abundanc alons ea g this ridge. .The natives, therefore, could hav difficulto en y in obtaining any quantity of flint." e occurrenca "th Not n I n o e f nativo e e Flint Aberdeenshire,n i s " communicated to the Society in 1874 by Mr Ferguson of Kinmundy, F.S.A. Scot. same th , e geological featur referres i e "as a no t denormou s accumulation, ove a considerablr e districte th par f f o water-worto , n chalk-flints," which he describes as follows :2— 1 Proceedings, . 240p vol . vi . 2 Proceedings, , 515p vol . .x . NOTES ON A DEPOSIT OF FLINTS. 349 " Running slightl souto yt f westho , ther ridga s ei f hig eo h ground, taking riss it e nearl t Buchannessya stretchind an , g acros countre sth y continuouslr yfo milesn s eastereighte it t o t a t: n extremit e forkth t yi branchesf s o e On . terminates south of Buchanness in the mass of granite called Stirling hill. The other runs north of Buchanness, and may be said to terminate in the granitic escarpment of the Black hills. All along the shore, wherever between these points the rocks admit of a beach, quantities of water-worn flints are found mingled with the other pebbles, evidently washed up by the waves. They are also found, although sparingly, on the southern ridge, or Stirling hill. But on the Black hill, and neighbouring hill of Invernettie, the surface is almost covered with them. This ridge, at the distance of about seven and a half miles from the sea at Salthouse-nead, attains an inland distance of about five miles froe coasth m t opposite e t th witSlains e me n flint ho e Th ar .s surface at various points along that line. The ridge is bare and moorish, but covered with peat and heather, and this prevents the flints from being accurately traced. At this point, however, seven and a half miles along the ridge, and five miles from the sea, they have been laid bare. The ye extremth occu t e a r ar e d Deer e parisvergd Ol th an f ,f eo o h principall ye far th seef Bogingarrym t o n a e landth f Kinmundyn so o , e Th .

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