Head describes deposits consisting of fragmented material which, following weathering, have moved downslope through a process of solifluction.
The term has been used by British geologists since the middle of the 19th century to describe such material in a range of different settings from flat hilltops to the bottoms of valleys.
With geologists becoming more interested in studying the near-surface environment and its related processes, the term head is becoming obsolete.
A related term is 'combe (or coombe) rock', descriptive of a body of chalk and flint fragments contained within a mass of chalky earth typically found on the chalk downlands of south-east England and resulting from freeze-thaw processes.
[2][3] Though its earliest use is attributed to De la Beche in 1839 [4] he mentions that in 1837 Mr. Trevelyn of Guernsey observed “ a bed of disintegrated granite, about three feet thick, mixed with angular fragments, thus reminding us of the head of angular fragments so commonly seen in Cornwall and Devon.“ [5]