Xl. THE SECOND WINTER MEETING. 



and a drain. One Roman coin was found, which he had 

 kept to show. He afterwards worked further up the field and 

 suddenly came upon the tesselated pavement about one foot to 

 15 inches below the surface, and had half of it uncovered. The 

 area of the ornamental part of the tile flooring is about 10 feet 

 by 10 feet, and there is besides a border (all round apparently) 

 of larger tesserae of a dark colour and i foot each in width, 

 making the border average i foot ; the whole should be about 

 12 feet by 12 feet. There is a mark as of a ploughshare across 

 the pavement. Probably, this led to its first discovery ; this and 

 one or two other portions are defective. The bulk of the 

 pattern is left, and could be measured and drawn as it lies. 

 The surface is very uneven in places, and the tesserae are laid on 

 a layer of soft mortar, and are easily displaced. Cole has 

 collected a lot of loose ones he dug out of the soil. Mr. Digby 

 has told him to be very careful in uncovering the remainder, 

 and to cover it up with bags and lay some boards over it to 

 protect it from damage. In his opinion, the foundation of the 

 pavement is too weak to admit of its being taken up in section. 

 The dolphins are of good design and workmanship, the tesserae 

 composing them about half an inch square. 



Since the above notes were written the workmen have opened 

 up the lines of some of the old walls, indicating a very large 

 dwelling. One complete floor, 20 feet square, has been 

 discovered and the entrance to two other floors, also a small bath 

 and a portion of the furnace of the hypocaust. The severe 

 weather stopped the excavations, and the tile floors were 

 covered down until the spring, when it is proposed to make 

 a thorough investigation of the same. Dr. CoIIey IMarch added 

 that the dolphin came into use as an ornament in the time of 

 the Antonines, say a.d. 128. That was important, because in 

 the Olga Road pavement, now in the County Museum, all its 

 ornamental details were in use before the Christian era. With 

 regard to type, this pavement was earlier than that at Fife- 

 head. Probably, the Club would have an opportunity during 

 the summer of seeing the Fifehead pavement. 



