534 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



Mr. R. Colson and Dr. Chappuis, excavated a portion of the ex- 

 posed floor section of the cave and found a considerable number of 

 flint implements and besides that a quantity of bone breccia, which 

 contained one tooth and one metatarsal of a variety of horse. 



Subsequently various partial examinations of the accumulations 

 in the cave resulted in the discovery of implements, and of a large 

 number of flint chippings. All these are preserved in the Museum of 

 the Societe Jersiaise, at St. Heliere. 



In September, 1905, finally, the Jersey Society decided to explore 

 the cave sj^stematically, and Dr. Chappuis, Mr. Nicolle the secretary, 

 and Mr. Colson, commenced work in that part of the exposed floor 

 already mentioned. INIore flint implements were discovered, but 

 at the commencement of October the work had to be abandoned owing 

 to the rainy season and to the fact that the explorers were excavat- 

 ing under dangerous conditions. It then became clear that a consider- 

 able portion of the talus as well as some of the threatening rocks 

 overhead had to be removed before the work could proceed. 



Thus matters remained until July, 1910, when the sodety resolved 

 to make another attempt at the exploration of the cave. With the 

 help of experienced quarrymen excavation was commenced on Au- 

 gust 1, and after a little over three weeks' work, sufficient of the 

 rubble had been removed to reveal the form of the interior of the 

 cave and to lay bare a portion of the floor about 11 feet square to the 

 left of the entrance. 



The dimensions of the cave as revealed at this stage were as fol- 

 lows: The entrance was 25 feet in height and about 20 feet in width. 

 Just within, the roof sloped upward into a rough dome 30 to 32 feet 

 from the floor. How far the cave entered the rock could not be as- 

 certained, but judging from the slope of the roof downward towards 

 the back, it was probably some 40 to 50 feet. 



As soon as a portion of the floor had been reached a careful search 

 and examination were commenced, with the following results: 



The floor proper was not clearly marked, for layers of black soil, 

 which proved to be a combination of ashes, carbonized wood and 

 clay, were mixed up with whitish masses of bone detritus and clay 

 compacted into breccia. Flint implements and chippings were inter- 

 spersed plentifully throughout these deposits. 



On the left of the entrance and at a distance from it of about 8 

 feet, was a hearth containing a quantity — probably a quarter of a ton 

 or so — of wood ashes and carbonized wood. Close together, among 

 the ashes of the hearth, were a few pebbles of granite and felsite 

 bearing indications of having been heated. 



The presence of bones was manifest all through the layers con- 

 stituting the floor, but due to advanced decomposition of the material, 

 the cave not being a dry one, only here and there could fragments 



