272 



THE NATURAL HlftTOEY BEVI£W, 



XXIV, — Peoceedings or the Scientific Societies or LoNDOTf. 



1. EthnoI/Ogical Society. (4, St. Martin's Place.) 



December 27t}i, 1864. 



The following papers were read: — 1. 'On Plint Implements from 

 Salisbury Hill, near Bath.' By Mr. Jolin Evans, P.E.S. During 

 the late meeting of the British Association at Bath, a paragraph 

 appeared in the Bath Chronicle, stating that in the ancient earth- 

 works at ' Little Salisbury Hill,' numbers of flint arrow-heads had 

 been found. Amongst the additions to Camden's ' Britannia' 

 (Gough's edition of 1806) is a passage derived from Collinson's 

 ' History of Somerset,' refemng the entrenchment (of an almost 

 cii'cular shape) to Saxon times. Mr. Lubbock, Mr. Gralton, and the 

 author paid it a visit. They found it to be an isolated hill of In- 

 ferior Oolite, the Puller' s-earth beds being capped by the Great or 

 Bath Oolite, which formed a horizontal plateau some few acres in 

 extent at the top. The vallum had in great part disappeared. On 

 the top a seam of black mould was observed in the cutting of a 

 email quarry worked into the side of the hill, and containing bones 

 of the horse, ox, and pig. There were also several pieces of rude pot- 

 tery, some of red clay ware, and others of more imperfectly burnt 

 clay containing numerous particles of calcareous matter, and similar 

 m character to the ware which was found a few years ago at Menney 

 near Prome, containing ancient British coins of the first century. On 

 the plateau a search for arrow-heads was made as well as for other 

 objects of flint, which, as the natural soil contains no stones except 

 oolitic debris, were readily observable, and a large number of flint 

 chippings and flakes of various sizes and diflerent degrees of perfec- 

 tion, but mostly small and rude, as w^ell as several cores or nuclei, 

 were collected. Besides the worked flints, several other implements 

 of stone worthy of notice were met with. Of these the most remark- 

 able was a rounded pebble of hsematitic iron ore, mth several deep 

 scorings upon it, found by Mr. Lubbock. A piece of greenstone, 

 apparently originally a smoothed or polished celt, but which had 

 subsequently been used as a hammer, was also met with. Besides 

 these were two stone implements of quartzite, presenting a rather 



