CHAP. IV. OF ANCIENT BUILDINGS. 211 



there was a layer of yellow clay of very 

 unequal thickness between two beds of debris, 

 the lower one of which rested on a floor with 

 tesserae. The ancient broken walls appear to 

 have been sometimes roughly cut down to a 

 uniform level, so as to serve as the founda- 

 tions for a temporary building ; and Mr. Joyce 

 suspects that some of these buildings were 

 wattled sheds, plastered with clay, which 

 would account for the above-mentioned layer 

 of clay. 



Turning now to the points which more 

 immediately concern us. Worm-castings 

 were observed on the floors of several of the 

 rooms, in one of which the tesselation was 

 unusually perfect. The tesserae here con- 

 sisted of little cubes of hard sandstone of 

 about 1 inch, several of which were loose 

 or projected slightly above the general level. 

 One or occasionally two open worm-burrows 

 were found beneath all the loose tesserae. 

 Worms have also penetrated the old walls of 

 these ruins. A wall, which had just been 

 exposed to view during the excavations then 

 in progress, was examined ; it was built of 

 large flints, and was 18 inches in thickness. 



Q 



