On a Fossiliferous Deposit in the Gravel at West Hackney

Abstract

I n the summer of 1853, Dr. Beeke informed me of the discovery of some large mammalian bones in a gravel-pit belonging to Mr. Hindle, at Shacklewell Lane, between Hackney and Stoke Newington. In company with the former of these gentlemen, I visited the spot, which is 60 feet above the level of Trinity high-water mark, on several occasions, and found many points which I deem of sufficient interest to lay before the Society. I found that the bones were not actually in the gravel, but in a bed of clay between two beds of gravel,—which clay forms a distinct and separate deposit with an abundance of freshwater and land shells. The occurrence of the bones was an exceptional case, no other bones having been previously met with at this pit, though common at some others in the neighbourhood. The following is a sketch of part of the pit :- No fossils have been found in the brick-earth ( a ) of this district. The gravel ( b ) is spread out in large sheets which produce an appearance of rough stratification; it consists of subangular broken flints, with some very large nearly whole flints hardly at all worn, flint-pebbles from the Lower London Tertiaries, a few quartz and sandstone pebbles, and some rolled pieces of very. hard, compact, siliceous sandstone. Only a few feet square of the underlying clay ( c ) was uncovered. The line of separation between these two beds is merely slightly waved, except at one spot, where the gravel lay in an