12 Transactions of the [Sess. 



III.— BONES AND SHELLS TAKEN FROM A KITCHEN- 

 MIDDEN ON INCHKEITH DURING 1881. 



Exhibited by Me, T. B. SPRAGUE. 



{Oct. 20, 1881.) 



Mr T. B. Sprague exhibited a number of bones and shells he had 

 collected from a kitchen-midden on Inchkeith. The midden is situ- 

 ated on the high ground at the back of Battery No. 2, recently 

 erected on the island, and a good section of it is exposed by the 

 trench which surrounds the battery. The midden is composed 

 principally of shells of the common Limpet [Patella vulgata) and 

 Periwinkle [Littorina littorea), exactly similar to those which are 

 at present found in great quantities upon the rocks of the island. 

 There were also some shells of Purpura kqnllus, and two fragments 

 of Crabs' claws [Cancer Pagurus). The bones collected by Mr 

 Sprague are chiefly those of the grey Seal and of various sea-birds, 

 such as the Solan Goose. There are 148 bones (or portions of 

 bones) of the grey Seal — including 6 rami (no two of which are 

 a pair), 10 humeri, 23 vertebrae (one only of which belonged to 

 an adult animal), 15 fragments of skull, and 22 ribs ; and there are 

 117 bones (or fragments of bones) of birds. There is one rib of 

 Sheep, 16 fragments of marrow-bones of ruminants — all of which 

 had been broken, apparently for the purpose of extracting the 

 marrow — and one fragment of a large bone of some large animal 

 (Horse ?). One of the bones, a fragment of a Seal's rib, bore a mark 

 which may possibly have been caused by a dog's tooth ; and one of 

 the bones evidently belonged to an individual that was wounded by 

 a flint-headed arrow, but escaped and lived for a considerable time 

 afterwards, before it was actually captured. Professor Turner, who 

 has seen the bones, points out that the ten humeri of Seal belonged 

 to at least six different individuals, of which only one was mature, 

 and suggests that Inchkeith was probably a favourite breeding-place 

 of the Seal at the time the bones accumulated. Mr Sprague stated 

 that in the centre of the midden he found the remains of a fireplace 

 or hearth formed of fi'agments of rock ; and he exhibited two frag- 

 ments of the bones of some ruminant animal, which were rounded 

 at the ends, and appeared to have been used as some kind of rude 

 implement. He did not find any arrowheads or stone implements ; 

 but the midden, of which he only explored a small portion, appeared 

 to cover a considerable extent of ground, and probably would re- 

 ward the labours of other investigators. 



In the ' Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland ' for 



