A GALLOWAY: STONE-AGE VILLAGE. 79 
One of the most remarkable facts disclosed was that, in all 
the cases where the direction of the growth of the tree or branch 
was recognised, and this was detected in nearly every instance, 
the piles had been placed upside down, or coritrary to the direc- 
tion in which the timber had grown. In other words, the top end 
of the branch had been pointed and dressed, and had been 
placed downwards in the clay. Now it is well understood that 
stakes inserted in the ground against the line of growth or “ cap 
down,’’ to use the technical term, last longer than those placed 
in the direction in which the timber has grown. 
A knowledge of the obvious fact that the thinner end of a 
stake was more easily pointed than the thicker end, would not 
in this case be acted upon, for the simple reason that the logs 
were short and so finely grown that one end was not appreciably 
of less diameter than the other. Moreover, the craftsman had 
presumably to dress both ends of the logs, though the nature of 
the dressing at the upper ends is unknown, as the wood at the 
higher level has vanished by decay. 
Again, the twigs and branches of the supposed wattle-work 
(described later), which required little, if any, sharpening, were 
also as a rule inserted upside down. It seems a fair inference 
that the inhabitants of Galloway at this early period had recog- 
nised a fact known to most present-day foresters and farmers— 
that stakes last longer when inserted in the ground upside down. 
The piles seem to have been forced into the clay for only a 
short distance, but a great deal of the subsoil immediately above 
the clay must have been either dug out or loosened before they 
were inserted, as disturbed soil was found only a few inches 
above their lower ends. No pile point was recognised as having 
had the surface scratched. Sztri@ would, of course, have been 
good evidence that the logs had been driven. The rarity of 
small pebbles and grit in the grey sand and clay may account 
for the absence of striation: Though the piles pierced the clay 
only a few inches, yet the substructure in each of the three ex- 
plored stations was secure and immovable. This may be 
accounted for by the fact that each log was in contact with its 
immediate neighbour, and many were tightly jammed together. 
There was no packing of the piles bystones. The spaces between 
the rows had not been filled up, as the matter found there was 
quite loose, silted-in material largely of a vegetable character 
