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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 83 



while from below, the cave, the modern floor of which lies some 40 m. above the 

 level of the stream, is approached by a steep, rocky slope 



No flint implements, or other evidence of habitation, were to be seen either on 

 the floor of the cave or on the slope which led up to it, but its size and conve- 

 nience as a place of habitation, together with the impregnability of its situation, 

 seemed to merit the digging of a trial trench through the debris which had 

 accumulated during generations of use as a stabling for goats. 



A preliminary trench was dug from the mouth of the cave inwards to the 

 back wall, running some 2.5 m. northwest of the medial line of the cave. For the 

 first 120 cm. the deposits were of comparatively recent origin, yielding frag- 

 ments of bone and potsherds, among which Late Roman and Byzantine types 

 predominated, but at a depth of 120 cm., towards the front of the cave, a layer 



1^ RECENT. 

 M PALAEOLITHIC. 

 BRECOA. 

 ^ SANDS AMD CLAY 

 I I PRECIPITATtO CLAY. 

 H LIMESTONE. 



Fig. S2. — The Galilee Cave. (After Turville-Petre.) 



was reached composed of large blocks of rock apparently fallen from the roof, 

 and from below these blocks some fragments of bone in a highly mineralized 

 state were obtained ; also a small coup-de-poing of Middle Palaeolithic type and 

 a few chert flakes of indeterminate form. 



The deposits of the cave showed eventually a nimiber of distinguish- 

 able layers. The layers of approximately the upper 4 feet showed that 

 the cave had served, latest of all, as a sheep stable ; below this and 

 up to about 2)2 feet in depth were signs of human occupation extending 

 to early bronze or neolithic period. At a depth of about 3^ feet a layer 

 of fallen rock was found over the central area of the cave. 



Below this layer of rock there was a marked change in the character of the 

 deposits. They were here composed of a fine reddish, clayey earth, which was 

 comparatively dry; the bone fragments which they contained were hard and 

 heavy, reddish in colour and gave out a sharp metallic sound when tapped. This 

 layer averaged 90 cm. in thickness, and rested on another consisting of yellowish 



