212 Excavation of ike South Lodge Camp, RusJmore Park. 



in an early volume of the " Archeologia" ^ in which a looped spear- 

 headj like this one^ is represented as having been fouud in a hole at 

 the bottom of an oblong pit, together with relics of the late Celtic 

 Period, in 1803, but the account of them is so very concise, and the 

 writer evidently not well acquainted with the nature of the objects, 

 that I doubt whether much reliance can be placed on his description, 

 as attributing this class of weapon to any period later than the Bronze 

 Age. It is, however, worth notice, that this spear-head was found 

 in the silting of the ditch at a higher level than any of the other 

 bronze objects, being only 09ft. from the surface, C, Section, PI. 

 II., and consequently in a position that might be taken to imply 

 that it was deposited later than the other objects, and after the 

 ditch had silted up to that level. This may, however, perhaps be 

 accounted for in another way. It was noticed before excavation that 

 the rampart had been levelled at this spot, so that an entrance 

 was expected to be found there.^ This, however, was not the case, 

 and it was evident that the rampart bad been filled in to the ditch 

 here at some subsequent period to the construction of the camp ; so 

 that the spear-head may possibly have been buried in the rampart, 

 and may have been thrown into the ditch at the time of this filling 

 in, which would account for its being found at such a high level. 

 On the south-west side, several well-formed flint scrapers were found 

 together in the rampart, M., PI. I. ; these evidently had never 

 been used, and, from the sharpness of their edges, must have been 

 covered up soon after they were made. Flint scrapers are recognised 

 as having been commonly used in the Bronze h^Q. 



All these objects, then, are relics of the Bronze Age, and from 

 their position in the ditch afford sufficient evidence of the camp 

 being of that period ; but the most reliable evidence upon this 

 point is derived from the position of the fragments of pottery of 

 different kinds found throughout the camp. A fragment of pottery 

 when thrown upon the ground is washed down with the earth on 



* " Archffiologia," vol. 16, p. 348. 

 2 This will be better shown in the contoured plan of the camp, which will 

 appear in the fourth vol. of my " Excavations iu Cranborne Chase." 



