ON THE ANCIENT EARTHWORK IN EPPING FOREST. 251 
the fact that a body of men, who perhaps used stone weapons and tools, 
probably lived inside the camp, it is not unreasonable to suppose that 
finished tools may be found within the space enclosed by the ramparts, if 
the original floor be exposed by the removal of a foot or two of the humus 
by which it is now covered. In this position celts, arrow-heads, ‘scrapers,’ 
‘knives,’ ‘fabricators,’ and other tools might be found, as we find them 
in the soil of other camps when the interior is disturbed by the plough. 
Although none of the specimens appear to precisely agree in quality 
and texture with those found in Ambresbury Banks, still, as in that earth- 
work, the pottery of the Loughton Camp may be divided into two classes. 
The first is of a very coarse manufacture, the clay containing fragments 
of quartz and pebble; the other is thinner, of finer material, harder and 
closer in texture, and without the angular stony grains. Both classes 
are manifestly insufficiently fired, and all the specimens are hand- 
made. They have been submitted to Mr. A. W. Franks, F.R.S., of 
the British Museum, who points ont the great difficulty of accurately 
estimating the age of ‘rude pottery where no ornamentation is present 
to afford a clue, and where only small fragments are available for 
determination. He is, however, disposed to rank the potsherds found as 
of late Celtic age and manufacture. The pottery and flints have also been . 
carefully examined by General Pitt-Rivers, who has written a report upon 
them, which we give in his own words :-— 
‘I regret much that the pressure of other business has prevented me, 
excepting on one occasion, from being present at the excavations of the 
Loughton Camp; but I have examined the specimens found in the cut- 
tings, and very carefully preserved and ticketed by Mr. Cole. 
‘The pottery found in the first section on the old surface line, and in 
the body of the rampart, is of the coarse kind, with some large grains of 
some foreign material intermixed, which is commonly found in the ram- 
parts of British camps. The pottery of the third and fourth cuttings is 
of a superior quality, without large grains, and apparently better baked ; 
but the vessels had small irregular rims, and there is, I think, sufficient 
evidence upon them to show that they were hand-made, and not lathe- 
turned. Pottery of these two qualities not unfrequently occur together 
in British camps. There is no ornamentation to positively identify any 
of the fragments as late Celtic; but, judging from the results of other 
excavations, I see no reason why they should not be of that period. I 
should certainly consider them pre-Roman. 
‘With respect to the flint flakes found in the body of the rampart 
and on the “ old-surface line,” I do not consider the presence of flakes in 
these positions to afford positive proof that they were in use at the time 
of the construction of the camp. There are many spots on the surface of 
hills in which, if a rampart were to be thrown up now and explored at 
some fature time, both the old surface line and the body of the rampart 
would be found to contain numerous flakes, the remains of earlier occu- 
pation by prehistoric man. I have also quite recently found the old 
surface line of a rampart thickly strewed with flakes, while other cuttings 
in the same rampart have shown evidence that the camp was of a more 
recent date than that in which flint tools were used. The comparative 
freshness of the flakes, however, although it may to some extent be attri- 
buted to the sandy nature of the soil, appears to me to favour the opinion 
that they were struck off and covered up soon after; and the finding of 
severa! fragments fitting one another confirms this view, as noticed by 
