68: 



NA TURE 



OCTOBiR 29, 1908 



absence of any interlaced ornament on them, and many 

 La Tene elements survive in their decoration, some mav 

 even be earlier. They arc all of bronze, but the enamels 

 on them have disappeared. Finally, Mr. Coffey contributed 

 a note on the Tara brooch which directed attention to a 

 fact hitherto unobserved, namely, that the fine wires of 

 the interlaced patterns, of the central interlacements and 

 of the head of the pin have. a minute granulation, \vhich 

 is not apparent to the naked eye. 



-Mr. Armstrong's paper directed attention to the recent 

 discovery ol a leather shield in co. Longford. The shield 

 is made of a solid piece of leather about 20 inches in 

 length and 19 inches across, and has an oblong central 

 boss, which has been . pressed out of the leather and 

 furnished with a cap, composed of finer leather, laced on 

 to the boss. The face of the shield is ornamented with 

 three ribs, between w-hich are . small bosses arranged in 

 sets of three, the decoration recalling that of the bronze 

 shields. The back of the shield is furnished with a handle. 

 That the specimen is not the leather lining of a bronze 

 shield is clear from the thickness of the leather and the 

 lacing of the boss. It is of the same type as the bronze 

 shields of Western and Upper Europe. 



The subject of earthworks was dealt with by Mr. 

 Goddard Orpen in a paper on the origin of Irish motes, 

 which he referred, on documentary and geographical 

 evidence, not to the Celtic or Scandinavian invaders, but 

 to the Normans, thus bringing the date of their erection 

 down to the eleventh century .A.D. 



-Another paper of considerable interest was Dr. Scharff's, 

 on the Irish horse and its early history. The most com- 

 plete remains of the horse found' in Ireland were discovered 

 in the Craigywarren Crannog. in Antrim. The occupa- 

 tion of this crannog dates back to early Christian times, 

 and the horses w-erc doubtless domesticated. These remains 

 bore as striking a resemblance to the Arab type as does 

 the modern Connemara pony. Other remains found 

 indicate that at a more remote period a small race of 

 horse, similar to those found in the Crannng, lived in 

 Ireland, some of which remains probably belonged to a 

 wild breed. It seems clear that the resemblance of the 

 Connemara pony to the eastern and Libyan horse is not 

 entirely due to human introduction of foreign stock, but 

 to the fact that the wild horse of Ireland possessed the 

 same characteristics, which it transmitted to the e.xisting 

 ancient domestic breeds. 



In British prehistoric archaeology several important 

 papers were submitted. Miss Layard, whose work on the 

 Ipswich PaljEolithic site is well known, directed attention 

 to an ancient land surface in that district, where flint 

 implements have been discovered in association with bones 

 of horse, deer, mammoth, Bos primigciiius, wolf, and bear. 

 The remains w^ere 30 feet below the present surface. .She 

 also directed attention to a new Palaeolithic site in the 

 valley of the Lark, where rough palaeoliths and a large 

 number of flint cores have been found. 



_ Mr. J. Gray, in a paper on Who built the British stone 

 circles? reported the discovery of the remains of a unique 

 race recently discovered associated with short cists in 

 .■\berdeenshire. This race, which is of the early Bronze 

 age, is different from any other known prehistoric race in 

 Britain, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland, but there are 

 indications of aflfinity with the ancient peoples of south- 

 west Asia. 



In^ a paper on cup and ring markings, the Rev. H. J. 

 Dukinfield .Astley sought to connect these markings with 

 the designs on the churinga of the Arunta, and suggested 

 that they were totemistic. 



.A. paper by Mr. G. Clinch, suggesting a system of 

 classification of Megalithic remains," and the report of the 

 committee appointed to consider this subject, led to an 

 interesting discussion, in which the president, Mr. .Xcland, 

 and Mr. Swift MacXeill took part. The general consensus 

 of opinion was that the preservation of ancient monu- 

 ments should be made compulsory and not merely per- 

 missive, and that the inspector of ancient monuments 

 '■hould be an active official with wide powers. It was 

 further_ suggested that a short private Bill might be intro- 

 duced into Parliament. 



The report of the Glastonbury Lake Village Committee 

 directed attention to the dis'-nvery of two other villages at 

 NO. 2035, VOL. 78] 



Meare, on which tentative excavations had been made with 

 promising results, while that on the age of stone circles- 

 reported that excavations had been begun on the ditch at 

 ■Avebury, in which were discovered a good stratification 

 of pottery, from Mediaeval to Bronze-age types, and deer- 

 horn picks, recalling those of Grime's Graves and Ciss-- 

 bury. These relics tend to confirm the theory that the- 

 .Avebury circle is of the Neolithic or early Bronze-age 

 period, but this can hardly be said to be proved by the 

 present excavation. 



Roman remains in Britain again occupied a considerable 

 part of the section's proceedings. Dr. Ashby again gave 

 an account of the excavations at Caerwent which have 

 resulted in the exploration of the basilica and foru.u, 

 which corresponds closely to that at Silchcster. Dr. New- 

 stead described the portion of Roman wall recently found 

 at Chester. It is of ashlar, backed by rubble, with a solid 

 bank of stiff clayey loam behind. The fosse was also 

 excavated in two places. It was not of the usual V-shape, 

 but was broad at the bottom. The finds were numerous'- 

 including portions of pottery, fragments of tiles, bones or 

 animals, and coins. A fine flint axe of Palaeolithic type 

 w'.as also discovered, as well as the remains of a quern and 

 some spindle whorls. 



Prof. J. L. Myres gave a general account of the worlc 

 of the Liverpool Committee for Excavation and Researih 

 in Wales and the Marches. The last season has been 

 occupied with a preliminary survey of a few districts of 

 Wales, and with tentative excavations on sites which seem 

 likely to deserve more thorough examination. Such was 

 the excavation at Caerleon, an account of which was pre- 

 sented by Mr. H. G. Evelyn White. Its chief importance 

 lay in the recovery of the ground plan of the interior 

 arrangements of the camp. 



As is usual, many papers dealing w'ith non-British 

 archneology were presented. -Among these, one of the 

 most interesting was Mr. J. P. Droop's, on Neolithic 

 culture in north Greece. One of these Neolithic settle- 

 ments can be roughly dated to 1300 B.C. by the presence 

 of Mycenaean sherds. Subsequently there was a poor 

 Bronze period. The discovery is therefore of the utmo-.;t 

 importance, as it shows that, while the bronze culture of 

 the -'Egean was being developed, peoples in the north of 

 Greece were still in the Stone age and used bronze com- 

 paratively late, and then, presumably, only for a short 

 period before the introduction of iron. 



The excavations on the site of the sanctuary of Artemis 

 Orthia at .Sparta were described by Mr. M. S. Thompson. 

 The chief find of the year was the remains of a primitive 

 temple of a date contemporary with the great archaic 

 altar. It seems clear that this had a gable roof with a 

 row of pillars supporting the roof tree, similar to the 

 temple of Thermos in .Etolia. In this primitive building 

 may be seen the earliest Dorian style. Many votive offer- 

 ings were found on the site, as well as a further number 

 of the terra-cotta masks. The so-called Cyrenaic pottery 

 has been proved to be Laconian, as had already been 

 suggested. 



An account of the four principal aqueducts of the city 

 of Rome was given by Dr. T. .\shby. Considerable re- 

 mains of these conduits still exist. Their course between 

 Gallicano and a point seven miles from Rome, where 

 they run upon arches into the city, has hitherto been 

 treated as unknown, but has now been determined 

 accurately, chiefly by making a search for the pieces of 

 calcareous deposit brought dow-'n by the water, which was 

 removed from the channels when they were cleaned. Dr. 

 .Ashby also gave an account of the work carried out in 

 Sardinia by Dr. Mackenzie and himself. Their researches 

 were devoted to determining the relations between the 

 nuraghi and the so-called tombs of the giants — the l.itter 

 consisting of long chambers with a circular area, enclosed 

 by upright slabs or by walling in front of them. It 

 seemed clear that the two were in very close relation, the 

 fornier being the fortified habitation and the latter the 

 family tomb. 



The section was peculiarly fortunate in having a paper 

 presented by Dr. Haakon .Schetelig, the director of the 

 Bergen Museum. Dr. Schetelig took as his subject the 

 sculotured stones of Norway and their relations to some 

 British monuments. The symbols on these monuments, 



