Il8 A SUPPOSED NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT. 



and prolonged observations worthy of the highest praise, and feel 

 confident that he has drawn attention to a matter that may prove 

 to be of great interest and importance. 



There still remains about 200 superficial feet of this deposit 

 in the same meadow awaiting excavation, which operation will 

 probably extend over several years. This is the portion marked 

 on the Plan at page 97 between DE and F. It will be noticed 

 that as the excavation approaches the road it runs away from 

 the river ; the portion of the meadow adjoining the river having 

 been purchased so as to prevent these diggings encroaching too 

 nearly on the Braintree Mill premises. 



This is a great misfortune for the Lake Dwelling researches. 

 Should the proprietors of the Brick Works ever carry out excava- 

 tions on the other side of the road, I think that still more might 

 be found, as here the old river bed widens out considerably, and 

 suggests a more favourable spot for such a settlement than the 

 narrow strip represented by the portion already excavated. 



The points in favour of this bed being artificial are the 

 curious mixture of which it is composed, which corresponds with 

 similar beds known as "■ Packimyk,'' met with in the Continental 

 Lake Dwelling sites of "Fascine" formation, and that this 

 inixture dies out as the bed approaches the old shore and the 

 present river. I have indicated this by the shading on the 

 Section. That it was constructed and then occupied rather than 

 being a gradual accretion is shewn by the fact that the biunt 

 flints, ashes, and traces of fire occur mostly on the top of this 

 layer. The portion of this layer which is at present exposed 

 (D — E on Plan) was, when I first saw it, covered with ashes and 

 burnt flints, apparently a hearth ; but on turning it over, the 

 traces of fire disappeared after a few inches. 



The preserved evidence of the pinning of the bed by shaped 

 stakes, exists only in the one specimen (fig. 5) ; but Mr. 

 Kenworthy remembers to have seen others that had apparently 

 been split and shaped in a similar manner. His idea of the 

 splitting of these stakes is ingenious, but requires, 1 think, more 

 evidence to confirm it. This is a point that should be carefully 

 watched in the future digging — where and how vertical stakes 

 occur. A Terramara formed with vertical inclined stakes, dis- 

 covered at Castione, is described and illustrated in Munro's Lake 

 Dwellings, p. 253, fig. 82, and is interesting by way of comparison. 



An endeavour should be made to determine the shape of the 

 foundations of the dwellings — whether these represent a cluster 



