WHOLE VOL. SKELETAL REMAINS OF EARLY MAN — URDLICKA 1 39 



the ordinary ground level The outcropping zinc and lead ores have been 



much weathered, forming crevices, rough crests and ledges which at times are 

 sufficient to form lairs for wild beasts, or even to afford a slight shelter for 

 human beings such as Bushmen, but nothing which can be properly called a cave 

 has been found from the outside of these kopjes, neither are there any indica- 

 tions of blocked-up entrances to passages or caverns. Owing to the flat nature 

 of the country, the water in the rainy season stands in numerous pools and can 

 be found in shallow excavations a foot or two in depth. During the dry season 

 the numerous crevices in the limestone afford passage for the water to drain oflf 

 and the natural water level is then about i8 feet below the ordinary surface. 

 There is therefore an annual rise and fall in the water level underground which 

 will vary according to the rainfall, which is from 23 to 40 inches per annum, the 



wet months being November to March A deposit of fossilized bones, 



teeth and cores of horns had, however, been found on the Northeast side of the 

 hill when a large quantity of carbonates of zinc, lying on the flank of the hill, 

 was quarried away. The bones were found in a layer of sandy clay about four 

 feet thick, the top being about 3 feet below the surface level. 



Beneath the bone layer was a stratum of damp clay, and this rested on ore 

 of the ordinary class. This bone deposit was quite covered over by calamine ore. 

 The bones were highly mineralized, the phosphates of lime being converted into 

 phosphates of zinc. The fragments found were very small, seldom being obtained 

 more than six inches long and were not at all in well defined layers. The north- 

 ern end of the deposit has not yet been excavated. A lower tunnel, 172 feet below 

 the others, was driven later on from the southwest to northeast right under the 

 hill, the entrance being from inclines commencing some 20 feet away from the 

 foot of the slope of the hill. At 34 feet from where the tunnel began, the solid 

 ore was replaced by a mixture of rather dull yellow clay in which were embedded 

 numerous fragments of broken bones, teeth and cores of horns of animals and 

 splinters and flakes of white quartz. It was considered advisable to ascertain 

 how much space was taken up by this mixture of clay and a cross-drive or 

 tunnel was made towards the northwest extending for 44 feet. The tunnel reached 

 a face of solid ore dipping steeply to the northwest. No examination was made 

 on the southeastern side of the lower tunnel. A cross tunnel was then driven 

 westwards from the main or surface adit, at 45 feet from the entrance, and at 

 25 feet the cavity was again reached, the top being nearly level with the tunnel. 

 The width from east to west was thus shown to be some 24 feet. The length, 

 on a line running nearly north and south is at present proved to be 80 feet. 



Description of the cave. — This cannot be given very completely at present as 

 the work of excavation is suspended for a time. The northwestern end at the 

 lower level, and the southeastern end at the upper level are exposed, and the 

 position of the northeastern edge can be fairly accurately determined by the 

 points of intersection at the lower tunnel, by the cross-drive, and by the fact 

 that the south shaft is in solid ore. The southwestern edge is still undetermined. 

 There is clay and earthy material still in the bottom of the cross-drive at the 

 end. There are only a few pieces of bone below a line drawn 4 feet above the 

 floor, or say 13^ feet below the surface level. This may be due to the perma- 

 nent water level being close by and therefore this portion of the cave would be 

 less frequently occupied. The black earthy and clayey materials forming the 

 lower half of the cross-drive are in distinct layers. In one layer were found some 

 small lumps of sulphide of lead which had apparently been formed there. A 



