MAUMBURY RINGS, DORCHESTtR. XCl. 



Pushing their excavations further that morning they liad come 

 upon an almost vertical wall of chalk, dividing the floor of the arena 

 from the bank, and at the foot of this barrier other post-holes 

 were revealing themselves. Mr, Gray went on to say that another 

 cutting had just been begun through the bank on the N.N.W., 

 in the endeavour of finding seats for spectators. Plans and 

 sections of the excavations had been plotted to scale, and on 

 these every find of importance had been accurately marked. It 

 would be unfair that he should yet attempt to make any definite 

 statement with regard to the date of the construction of 

 INIaumbury Rings as a whole ; but there could be little doubt of 

 the Roman origin of the arena ; and although the earliest date of 

 the formation of the encircling bank had not yet been proved, it 

 was only fair to say that at the present stage of the excavations 

 a pre-historic origin for the embankment and for other parts of 

 the area also was not regarded as an impossibility. 

 A vote of thanks to INIr. Gray was carried with acclamation. 



The excavations at INIaumbury Rings were continued for 

 several days after the Field Club Meeting. 



On reaching the bottom of the cutting for the investigation of 

 the inner side of the N.N.W. bank, the workmen struck a large 

 pit, which was found to penetrate the undisturbed chalk, and to 

 contain at various depths to the bottom a quantity of pre-historic 

 remains. The solid chalk floor of the arena, overlaid with 

 mould, extended to the S.S.E. edge of this pit. 



The cutting over the bank revealed no evidence of tiers of 

 seats, and its date of construction was not settled. It was proved 

 however, that the terrace, in the part in which the digging took 

 place, was of late date, — probably XVII. Century. 



The excavation of the pre-historic pit was a difficult and 

 laborious work, and not without danger. The depth beneath 

 the surface of the turf was found to be 30 feet, which with the 

 exception of one or two of the deepest shafts of the ancient 

 flint-workings at Grime's Graves, and Cissbury was probably the 



