Excavations at Bikuenswark. 43 



The following operations were conducted : — Sections were 

 made through the entrenchments at a number of places ; several 

 of the gateways were excavated, and ti'enches were cut longi- 

 tudinally and across the interiors of the enclosures. The interior 

 of the redoubt in the north-east corner of the south camp was 

 wholly uncovered of earth, and in the centre of the camp a con- 

 siderable extent of ground was opened in making search for a 

 praetorium. 



In proceeding to examine the several works in detail, accord- 

 ing to the evidence aflbrded by the exploratory excavations, the 

 nature of the site may be first alluded to. According to the 

 Ordnance Geological Map the rock formation at the base and 

 sides of the hill is Old Red Sandstone, and at the plateau top it 

 is porphyrite. While at the hilltop the rock is harder, it also 

 lies for the most part at the surface or nearly so, and the depth 

 of soil increases gradually lower down. It is suggested that the 

 formation described and other conditions to be noticed in due 

 course may have imposed some of the irregularities of the plan, 

 and variations in the design of entrenchment, which the encamp- 

 ments exhibit ; and the constructive methods discovered, wherein 

 stone is largely applied, were probably influenced through the 

 abundance of such material to be readily got by quarrying on 

 the spot. 



The South Camp. 



This camp, apparently the most important of those at the foot 

 of the hill, lies at its south base. Its surface is slightly undula- 

 tory, and steeper at some places towards the north, and according 

 to section X.Y. (Plate IV.) the altitude rises about 70 feet 

 between one side and the other. 



The Ground Plan (Plate III.). — The outline of the ground 

 plan may be described as a distorted rectangle, having the sides 

 approximately rectilinear. Some of the divergences from geo- 

 metrical form of outline exhibited seem, as before suggested, to 

 have resulted from practical considerations, as, for instance, at 

 the south and east sides, where the rampart follows an abrupt 

 elevation of the ground. The south line is straight but for a 

 slight deflection northwards at the west end, and the east side 

 runs in an even course up to its junction Avith the redoubt ; the 

 angle, however, at the south-east corner of the camp is acute. 

 The north boundary, so far as the line lies between the two out- 



