28 
At another point of the same yard, about 10ft. of well-built wall 
was removed. It was evidently Roman, as near it a better kind of 
pottery was found, including a scrap of Samian, besides a few roof 
nails, and a bronze buckle. 
In discoveries of this kind every minute circumstance was of im- 
portance, as helping to some conclusion respecting the people who 
could have constructed dwellings so simple, and employed articles of 
domestic industry so rude as the spindle-whorl of chalk. Such a 
people could not have advanced beyond the dawn of civilization. 
Hut-circles of a similar kind were not uncommon throughout 
England ; but their circularity was always an evidence of simplicity of 
design, and appeared to have been the method adopted by all uncivilised 
nations. Dr. Livingstone remarks that he found it impossible to teach 
the South African natives to build huts otherwise than round or oval 5 — 
the moment his supervision relaxed the builder at once went back to 
the circle. The Mandan lodges are circular, sunk to the depth of about 
2ft. in the ground, and the walls are formed of poles, covered with 
earth to the depth of 2ft. or 3ft., which are rendered impervious to water 
by a coating of clay ; and the roof has a central hole, which serves the 
double purpose of a chimney and skylight. He had observed, by the 
waysides, rude outlines of houses, arranged by the village children, 
by placing flint stones in lines, and had been sometimes struck with 
the tendency to form circles. 
Again, with regard to the calcined flints, which were everywhere 
present in such quantities. “To what purpose could they have been 
applied ? Some of them, he observed, were faced on one side; and 
a few had facets at right angles. These, he thought, might have been 
used in constructing earth-ovens or fire-places. A large number, how- 
ever, were perfectly circular, and had bright, clean surfaces ; and he 
had no other method of appropriating these, excepting that they had 
been employed for the purpose of ‘‘stone-boiling.” And that stone- 
boiling was practised the pottery appeared to imply. 
A good many of the broken pieces were the sections of vessels, 
in size equal to bushel pans, and constructed of common reddish-brown 
clay, mingled with coarse flint-grit. These sections were further quite 
double the thickness of modern vessels of similar dimensions, implying 
that substance was intended to substitute quality ; and this coarse 
ware had the appearance of having undergone saturation with blackened — 
