TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 161 



The bones liad no definite an-.angement, but lay in the earth in an irregiilar manner. 

 The floor of the care was formed of solid rock, its walls were on much of their 

 surface lined by a white calcareous deposit, 1 to 2 inches in thickness. In the roof 

 of the cave was a fissure, widened out below, but which higher up was so narrow 

 as to admit little more than the blade of a knife. The earth within the cave was 

 moist, and it is probable that water had percolated into the cave through the fis- 

 sure m the roof, and that the calcareous lining' had been deposited from it. For 

 my information respecting this cave I am indebted to Mr. Mackay, though several 

 of the points I have referred to I was able to confirm from a personal examination 

 of the locality made in October last. The bones were transmitted to me by 

 Mr. Mackay, and were as follows : — 



The skull and greater part of the skeleton of an adult man. Unfortunately the 

 skull was broken to pieces before it came into my possession, so that it is not pos- 

 sible for me to describe it. I may state, however, that the superciliary ridges were 

 well marked, the lower jaw was powerful, the palatal arch was deep. The teeth 

 were partially worn but not ground flat on the surfaces of the crowns, and they 

 exhibited no decay. The tibia, femur, and humerus possessed some pecidiarities 

 in form. A second human skeleton was situated about one yard from the adult. 

 From the characters of the skidl and of the dentition, it is' obviously that of a 

 youth about eight or nine years of age. 



The animal bones were mostly those of mammals, but a few bird's bones were 

 also found. They consisted of the teeth, jaws, and long bones of the roe and red 

 deer. Skulls and other bones of the common dog. Skulls and other bones of 

 foxes. Skulls and other bones of a species of Mustela. The humerus and ulna 

 of an otter. Bones of the limbs of the hare. Skull of an Arvicola. A large 

 number of the long bones of the red deer, which have been split into fragments, in 

 all probability for the ready extraction of the marrow. No human bones were found 

 split in this manner. Fragments of calcined bones. Shells of limpets. Fragments 

 of granite and water-worn pebbles. A number of flint nodides and flint chips 

 and implements. Some of the nodules are partially chipped, as if in process of 

 being converted into implements. The nodules are small, and the implements 

 formed from them are necessarily small also. Is it not possible that the difter- 

 ences in the size of flint implements met with in different localities may be due to 

 the fact that flint nodules vary in size in diflerent places, and that the men of the 

 period had to make their implements of a size such as the materials at their dis- 

 posal permitted ? The most perfect of these implements have sharp edges all 

 round, they are comparatively flattened, and in no instance possessed a length of 

 3 inches, or a greater thickness than about half an inch. 



As flint is by no means a common material in Scotland, I was desirous of obtain- 

 ing from the most competent authority information on the nearest locality from 

 which they could have been obtained. My colleague, Prof. Geikie, writes me : " A 

 few years ago I found a bed (20 feet thick) of chalk flints underlying the gi-eat 

 basalt cliffs of Carsaig, on the south shores of the island of Mull. This is, I believe, 

 the nearest point to Oban from which flint could be brought." 



I think that the examination of the various objects found in this cavern leads to 

 the conclusion that it had been used as the habitation of man ; for we have not 

 only the remains of man himself, the animals on which he fed, the dog which he, 

 ■without doubt, employed to aid him in the chase, but the implements which he used, 

 and the raw material out of which those implements were manufactured ; further, 

 charred remains, which indicate that he had employed fire to cook his food. The 

 gi-eat thickness of the embankment of earth in front of the mouth of the cave leads 

 me to think that it had been closed up by a great landslip of the loose earth from the 

 summit of the cliff". Perhaps the human inhabitants had been buried alive in their 

 cavernous dwelling-place. 



It is well known that not only in Scotland, but in various parts of the globe, caves 

 have been used, and, indeed, in some localities are still used, as human habitations. 

 "^Miat the exact age of these remains may be it may be difficult to say, but the 

 association of flint implements with the human and animal bones points to a con- 

 siderable antic[uit3^ 



1871. 11 



