238 ON RAINS CAVE, LONGCLIFFE, DERBYSHIRE. 



while in a forward direction it became thinner, also less dark, less 

 noticeable, and with a smaller proportion of bones, etc. Almost 

 from the first, we had unconsciously made its acquaintance, and 

 with little doubt most of the " finds " up to this date (except those 

 associated with the hearth) were derived from it. While this bed 

 was everywhere tolerably well defined from the underlying loam 

 or breccia (the loam apparently thinning out in places), it was not 

 always so with regard to the top one ; in the central region 

 especially, it passed into, or was mixed up with, the latter, a point 

 to be remembered. As implied above, the animal bones were 

 unevenly distributed in it : this particularly was the case with the 

 human bones and the potsherds — another point to be remembered ; 

 while the charcoal, though generally diffused, was aggregated here 

 and there in thin patches. So numerous were these objects some- 

 times, that in more than one place in the central region the bed 

 was little else than a matted mass of bones (human as well as 

 animal), potsherds, and charcoal, in no discernible order. 



The animal bones, like those of the top bed, belonged to fauna 

 still existing in Europe. The larger ones as a rule were broken, 

 and the fractured surfaces indicated that most of these were so 

 done when in a fresh state. Now and again they were scraped ; 

 precisely as those of the hearth. This was especially the case with 

 rib bones. A few were scored and punctured as by the teeth of 

 some carnivore, perhaps dog ; and still fewer charred or even 

 calcined. Now and again we found fragments of human skull 

 also charred ; these, however, were not widely spread, and all 

 belonged to one individual. 



About a dozen pieces of flint were found in this layer, but only 

 four can be regarded as worked, the rest being mere shapeless 

 lumps. One is a core from which flakes have been chipped ; one 

 part of the natural surface of its rounded end has been much 

 bruised — perhaps it has been used as a hammer. The most 

 elaborately worked one (Fig. 8) might, at first sight, be taken for 

 a javelin head ; but it cannot have been intended for such a 

 weapon, for the apex is too blunt, and each margin (which has 

 been bevelled to a rude cutting edge) is worn from use for a short 



