230 ON RAINS CAVE, LONGCLIFFE, DERBYSHIRE. 



we commenced a trench in front of the entrance, with a view to 

 making an inclined way in. Nothing noteworthy was found in 

 this operation beyond a fragment of coarse hand-made pottery 

 about 15 inches below the surface, an iron hook at about half 

 that depth, and a few bones. In the interval between this date 

 and December 2 6lh, some of the large blocks (G,G, Section) 

 about the entrance were blasted and removed, in doing which it 

 was clearly seen that they had naturally fallen from the rocks 

 above. A huge block (J, Plan) still covers more than half of the 

 real mouth of the cave, and its original position on the rocky face 

 above can be readily traced. A large number of loose stones 

 (chiefly those thrown up in the first diggings) were also removed 

 from the interior, thereby lowering the floor considerably in 

 places. 



By the last-mentioned date the cave was ready for systematic 

 work. We adopted the usual method. A horizontal cord (A,B, 

 Plati) was stretched from near the entrance to the back, thereby 

 dividing the interior into a left and a right region : this was the 

 datum line. Upon the horizontal plane of this cord a plan was 

 prepared by a process of simple triangulation : its level is shown 

 as J, on the Section ; and the Plan, as here given, was afterwards 

 completed on the same plane. The next step was to divide up 

 the area on this plane into a series of strips, each one foot wide, 

 at a right-angle right and left of the datum hne, as indicated on 

 the Plan. These were indicated on the sides of the cave by 

 letters of the alphabet in white paint, "A" being the foot-strip 

 nearest the entrance. Choosing a tolerably level portion of the 

 floor on the left side, about one-third way down the cave, we 

 there dug a trench one foot wide and deep, and corresponding 

 to that portion of " J " which lay to the left of the datum line. 

 The only contents, other than limestone and soil, in this parallelo- 

 piped, were a few animal teeth and splinters of bone : these we 

 placed in a bag which we labelled "J. Left" and in that bag nothing 

 else was placed. We proceeded similarly with the next foot 

 of soil, " I. Left,'' only instead of removing it to the depth of one 

 foot, we removed it to the level of the bottom of "J. Lefty " H " 



