May. 1S95. THE NEW OBAN CAVE. 331 



and interest. It is the object of the present note to give some few 

 particulars of this cave, and for them I am mainly indebted to 

 Mr. J. W. Higgin, the secretary of the Exploration Committee. 



One of the first features to strike the eye of the casual visitor to 

 this charming bay is the raised beach, some 35 ft. above the present 

 one. It was upon this level that the quarrying operations were 

 proceeding when the observant eye of Mr. McArthur fell upon a 

 shell-bed. He immediately informed Mr. Higgin, who recognised 

 the importance of the discovery, and, although rumour has it that 

 many of the earlier finds were thrown away as having no connection 

 with man, still the numbers in which they appeared soon showed that 

 they could not possibly be mere freaks of nature. Upon exhibiting to 

 the Archaeological Society of Scotland one of the bone harpoons 

 discovered, Dr. Anderson induced that body to supply the funds 

 necessary for a thorough investigation. With this the severe winter 

 interfered, but the following general facts may prove of interest. 



The cave opens to the N.E., and, at its mouth, is about 20 ft. 

 wide ; it extends back about 30 ft. The roof was covered with 

 stalactites, which, together with the overhanging rock, have all been 

 cleared away, leaving the floor for examination. The mouth of the 

 cave was artificially stopped by huge pieces of rock, which were 

 placed right across it in the lower part, and subsequently occupied 

 two-thirds of its width. The explorers have made two deep longi- 

 tudinal trenches and one transverse one, and have removed some 

 fifty cartloads of material. The excavations have revealed the 

 following section : — 



1. Rock-debris and humus 



2. Shell-bed 



3. Beach gravel 



4. Shell-bed 



5. Stalagmite, sand, bones, etc. 



6. Bed-rock 



3 ft- 



12 to 26 in. 



3 ft. 



3 to 26 in. 



1 ft. 8 in. 



12 ft. 



i. The accumulation of this extensive deposit indicates a con- 

 siderable lapse of time since the deposition of the underlying shell- 

 bed. At the close of this period, a stray visitor appears to have 

 crawled in and made the cave his last resting-place, as his skull is 

 there to testify. 



2. This layer is extremely interesting. It seems to be the 

 equivalent of the ordinary Kitchen Midden material, since it consists 

 of the shells of the limpet, quantities of the large Pecten so plentifully 

 found in many of the Scotch glacial deposits, oysters, mussels, cockles, 

 sea-snails (Natica?), winkles, crabs, and other edible species. The 

 limpets are said to bear evidence of having been roasted before being 

 eaten. The various species are often found in heaps, and not 

 irregularly mixed with other shells as on a shore. Dispersed through 

 this bed are also the bones of fish, birds, and mammals. The 

 latter are in the hands of Sir Wm. Furness for determination : some 

 of the deer antlers are of very large dimensions, suggestive of 



