108 EXCAVATIONS AT MAUMBUBY RINGS. 



Dorchester specimens are similar in shape and size to the examples 

 from the battlefields of Naseby and Marston Moor and the siege of 

 Athlone, and he sees no reason why they should not be of the Charles I. 

 period. "The calibre of the bullet varied considerably, as did the 

 musket of that day ; but as a matter of fact the shape of the bullet 

 did not vary until the Brown Bess went out, and indeed the round 

 bullet was in use up to the time of the Crimean War. Mr. ffoulkes' 

 solution may be the correct one, as the pistols of the XVII. Century 

 were of large and varied calibres, and there are such weapons in the 

 Institution's Museum which would take either of the two bullets you 

 send." 



Mr. Charles ffoulkes, F.S.A., Keeper of the Tower Armouries, who 

 has seen some of the Maumbury bullets, wrote : " The bullets are more 

 probably pistol bullets, as all the arquebuses that are at the Tower 

 are of much larger calibre. In the XVII. Century the pistol was fired 

 at point blank ; some writers advised ' touching the enemy's breast- 

 plate with the pistol before it was discharged.' If your find is of 

 different calibre it would bear out the theory that they are for pistols, 

 as each regiment had as near as possible the same calibre of arquebus 

 for obvious reasons. The disadvantage of having pieces of different 

 bore was found in Elizabeth's reign, when the ' caliver ' was intro- 

 duced to give uniformity." 



After the removal of the terrace the top of the solid chalk 

 arena-wall was soon disclosed, also the outline of an area 

 deeply recessed into the wall, which proved to be an enclosure 

 of similar character and proportions to that found on the 

 opposite side of the Rings. (Plates III., IV.). By degrees 

 the floor of the enclosed area, bounded on three sides by 

 chalk walls and open towards the arena, was cleared, and in 

 carrying out this work a good number of relics and shards of 

 the Roman period were collected. The platform was found 

 to be smooth and well worn, but there was a decided fall 

 from front to back amounting to 0'7ft. Owing to the presence 

 of shafts and the consequent disturbance of the chalk rock 

 in this position the W. margin of the platform was somewhat 

 irregular. The dimensions, however, were exactly the same 

 as the W. enclosure, viz., length 15'75ft., width lift. 



Along both sides and at the foot of the wall of the enclosure 

 were two trenches, that on the S. 6' 75ft. and that on the 

 N. 6ft. long ; they were rift, deep below the platform and 



