Recent Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 599 



Avebury. "The Age of Stone Circles. Report of the Committee, con- 

 sisting of Mr. C. H. Read, &c., appointed to conduct Exploitations with 

 the object of ascertaining the age of Stone Circles." British Association 

 Report, containing Mr. H. St. G. Gray's account of "The Avebury 

 Excavations, 1908." 8vo, pp. 14. 



Mr. Gray begins his report with an admirable introductory account of 

 five pages containing a resume of all that is known about Avebury, and 

 of the previous excavations that have taken place on the site. No better 

 short account of the monument has ever been printed. He then goes on 

 to deal with his own excavations of last year, giving a diagram of the 

 average section of the south fosse, showing the position of every fragment 

 of pottery or other relic found. The excavations began on May 19th 

 and continued till June 6th, during which an average of nine men were 

 employed daily. Two cuttings were opened to the right of the Kennet 

 entrance, which were confined to the ditch, the vallum not being cut 

 through. No. 1 was 24ft. long. In this section the bottom of the ditch 

 proved to be 16ft. 9in. below the present surface of the silting, which is 

 itself 14ft. lower than the original ground level. The ditch was therefore 

 originally about 31ft. deep, and it averaged 17ft. in width at the bottom, 

 which was flat. A length of 17ft. of this ditch was completely cleared. 

 A second cutting nearer the road was begun but could not be completed, 

 and remains over until the work is resumed next spring. 



" It is quite reasonable to suppose that the ' Temple of Avebury ' was 

 entered from the south by way of the Kennet avenue. We should, 

 therefore, look for an entrance causeway in the position of the modern 

 road and a little to the east of Cutting II. Indeed this cutting was 

 commenced here in order that it might be prolonged eventually in search 

 of the end of the fosse terminating in a solid chalk causeway. To try 

 and prove the existence of such a termination on the south we made 

 several trial holes to ascertain the direction taken by the upper margins 

 of the walls of the fosse exposed in Cutting II. Holes were made aloD» 

 both margins, and in all those nearest to Cutting II. the solid chalk 

 upper margin of the fosse wall was revealed ; but instead of the fosse 

 narrowing, it widened as it approached the hedge and road. A trench 

 was dug on the south side up to the hedge, and on the north side close 

 to the gate, but without proving that the fosse rounded off. If such a 

 termination does occur under the west side of the roadway then the solid 

 chalk entrance must have been narrow for so important a monument as 

 Avebury. On the other hand there may have been no entrance causeway, 

 and it is possible that the fosse was spanned by a bridge. It is feared 

 that owing to the presence of the hedge and modern roadway it may be 

 difi&cult to prove the point. The best course to pursue would probably 

 be to continue Cutting II. towaids the hedge, and, if found necessary, to 

 drive a tunnel under the road at a safe level." 



As to the objects found in the silting of the ditch, Norman and Early 

 English pottery was found abundantly down to 4ft. 6in. from the surface, 

 then Roman or Romano-British pottery at a depth of from 5ft to 6ft, and 



