FOWKE] AECHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 65 



the ashes and a foot below their surface, was a well-preserved cra- 

 nium, shown in plate 17, e, /. There were no other bones, not even 

 the lower jaw; it seems to have been thrown here and covered with 

 the dumped ashes. 



At 18 feet from the mouth the rocks became larger and so numer- 

 ous as to be almost in contact, projecting above the ashes and im- 

 bedded in the clay down to bedrock ; they extended for 22 feet farther 

 in and to within 14 feet of the west wall. The clay attained its 

 highest level at the beginning of this pile of rocks, having an eleva- 

 tion of 9 feet above bedrock; it became lower toward the interior, 

 with its surface everywhere rough and irregular. 



The rocks were too large to be either moved or broken up, and 

 owing to the condition of the roof an attempt to reduce them by 

 blasting would have been attended with great danger, so they 

 were perforce left in place and as much as possible of the clay 

 between and under them dug away. Beyond those near the front, 

 others, not reaching the top, were found one after another buried 

 in the clay; owing to their constantly increasing number, and to 

 the inward slope of the east wall, the limits of the excavation grad- 

 ually narrowed, hampering the movements of the workmen, and it 

 was necessary to handle the earth two or even three times to get it 

 out of the way. There was growing risk, too, of the projecting 

 rocks splitting off or breaking out of the clay matrix. As some of 

 them weighed several tons, the danger became too imminent, and 

 efforts to continue along the bedrock had to cease. 



Two other attempts were made to get to the bottom; one at 40 

 feet from the mouth just beyond the large rocks on the surface, and 

 one at 15 feet farther in. The last one started on an area 8 by 15 

 feet, which would have been ample if the sides could have been car- 

 ried down even approximately straight. Neither of these efforts met 

 with success, for the same reason that led to the abandonment of 

 the first one. 



From here to the end, examinations were confined to the deposit 

 of ashes. The surface, except as it had been disturbed by relic 

 hunters, was practically level from wall to wall, but the depth varied 

 with the undulating top of the clay beneath. AVhere it was deepest, 

 in the central portion about 50 to 75 feet from the mouth, the de- 

 posit had a thickness of 6 feet. From this it diminished to about 

 3 feet on the sides, with an occasional thinner patch on a narrow 

 shelf formed by a ledge or a crevice. The average thickness was 

 close to 4^ feet, so the amount was not far from 800 cubic yards. 

 This was composed entirely of ashes from small fires for cooking, 

 heating, and lighting purposes, increased to a very limited extent 

 by kitchen waste, and by discarded or mislaid wrought objects. It 

 represented the combustion of many hundreds, perhaps of thousands, 

 70341°— 22 5 



