Decembkk. 1912. 



kx()\vli:dge. 



453 



istorm: 



of five in Wanrn Corse (see F"igure 475), four miles 

 soutli-WLSt of Pembroke. From .\xton Hill larj;e 

 black [jatclics were observed on the bright red soil of 

 a newly-ploughed field, and on investigation these 

 proved to be typical hearths, situated immediately be- 

 side the streamlets (see Figure 475). .\ Hint scraper of 

 a peculiar steeii-nosed form was picked up amidst the 

 burnt stones disturbed bv the plough. 

 To summarize the salient features 

 of these hearths : — 



(1) They are situated almost 



in\'ariably beside springs or 

 streams. 



(2) They consist entirelv of burnt 



stones. 

 (J) Thev have yielded neither 



potter\-, bones, shells, nor 



an\- implements of metal. 

 (4) In two, possibly three, cases, 



flint chips have been found 



in them, and in several 



instances flint cores and 



flakes have been obtained in their \icinit\-. 



deeplv buried in an old rainwash deposit. 

 The e\idcnce, therefore, points to their use at an 

 early date by people unacquainted w ith metals : that 

 is, to some part of the Neolithic age. 



This view receives support from the relation of 

 these coastal hearths to the present shore line. At 

 Swanlake the low cliff upon which they stand is 

 gradually receding and large segments of the mounds 

 have been destroyed by the sea ; at Marros an 

 enormous accumulation of pebbles has been built by 

 the waves: vet, although the cooking-place is almost 

 buried bv these pebbles, not one seems to have been 

 used as a " pot-boiler." It is clear that these 

 hearths were in use before the coast-line had 

 assumed its present form and while the land 

 e.xtended considerably further on what is now their 

 seaward side. .\t a date so recent, possibly, as 

 the Neolithic .\ge much of the shoreward part of 

 Carmarthen Bay was a marshy woodland, connected 

 with the fringe of land which has been traced by its 

 " submerged forest " round most of the Knglish and 

 Welsh coasts. On the shore below the hearth at 

 Marros the stumps of many large trees remain //; .s-;Y(/. 



B^ixcK" 



Figure 477. 



Diagrammatic plan of the 



prehistoric cooking place at 



.Marros, of which a section is 



given (Fignre 476). 



rooted in the ston\- clav which underlies the beach. 

 The storm-beach has accumulated since the sub- 

 mergence of these trees and since the construction 

 of the hearth. It seems probable that the pre- 

 historic cooking-place was occupied while the 

 ancient woodland grew between it and the sea. 

 Such evidence as can be gathered from the hearths 

 and their surroundings certainlv 

 favours their association with a 

 period not later than the Neolithic 

 age. 



The particular mrthod of cook- 

 ing emplo)-ed bv the hearth-builders 

 needs explanation. By modern 

 studies of semi - civilised races 

 various methods of boiling, baking, 

 roasting, and grilling have been 

 observed : down to the present 

 da\- some Australian aborigines 

 cook meat upon hot stones or 

 ashes or upon a rough grill 

 made of crossed sticks, or boil it 

 in a bark trough or in a large shell b\' using " pot- 

 boilers." In other cases the food is boiled or baked 

 in small pits, made watertight by a lining of clay or 

 skins. Some of these methods were probably in use 

 in prehistoric Britain before skill had been attained 

 in the manufacture of good fire-resisting pottery. 

 In Ireland, heaps of burnt stones situated near 

 springs have long been regarded as prehistoric cook- 

 ing places, and in one case, cited by Messrs. Cantrell 

 and Jones, there was found immediatel}' beside the 

 mound and level with the stream a wooden trough 

 in which the food was probabl\- cooked, the water 

 being heated bv " pot-boilers," which were used over 

 and over again until they fell to pieces and fresh 

 stones were selected. A mass of burnt stones and 

 charcoal thus accumulated upon the ht'arth beside 

 the cooking-trough. 



That the South Wales mounds were cooking- 

 places appears bevond reasonable doubt, and some 

 of them were probably associated with cooking- 

 troughs or hollows, but no traces of actual cooking- 

 vessels have yet been found, and it may be that 

 some of them were used chiefly for sinijjler methods 

 of roastinij or trrillintr b\- hot stones. 



THE ROV.AL IX.STITUTION. 



GENER.^L .MEETING.— A General .Meeting 

 of the Members of the Royal Institution was held 

 on the afternoon of November 4th. Sir James 

 Crichton-Browne, Treasurer and Vice-President, in 

 the chair. Dr. J. H. McBride and Miss Jane Worth 

 were elected members. 



The Honorary Secretary reported the decease of 

 Professor Henri Poincai'e, an Honorary Member of 

 the Institution, and a resolution of condolence with 

 the family was passed. 



CHRISTMAS LECTURES FOR CHILDREN. 

 — We have been asked to announce that the eight\- 



seventh Christmas Course of Juvenile Lectures, 

 founded at the Royal Institution in 1826 by Michael 

 Faradav, will be delivered this year bv Professor 

 Sir James Dewar, LL.D., D.Sc, Ph.D., F.R.S., 

 FuUerian Professor of Chemistry, his title being 

 " Christmas Lecture Epilogues." The Lectures will 

 be e.xperimentally illustrated, and the subjects are 

 as follows : — .Alchemv. Saturday, December 28th, 



1912 : .Atoms, December 31st ; Light, January 2nd, 



1913 : Clouds, January 4th ; Meteorites, January 

 7th ; Frozen Worlds. January 9th. 



The Roval Institution is in .Albermarle Street, and 

 the lectures will be given at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 



