TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 149 



4. A talus of angular limestone fragments, fallen from the cliff, 2 feet thick 

 3. A stratum of dark earth, carbon, stones, Roman pottery, and coins, and 



fibidse, broken bones, &c., 18 inches thick. 

 2. A talus of angular fragments of precisely the same character as that 



above. 

 1. A zone at the base of this furnished remains of a gigantic brown bear, red 

 deer, horse, and Sos longifrons, a bone harpoon and Hint flakes, and rested 

 on the clay, which is of unknown depth. 

 This section aiibrds a rough measure of the difference in time between the two 

 periods of the occupation of the cave. 



If we allow that for a considerable time past, immediately outside the historical 

 epoch, the disintegration of the cliff has been equal, in equal times, of two feet, — if, 

 then, in twelve hundred years, to put it at the lowest, only a thickness of twenty- 

 four inches has been accumulated, it would take three thousand six hundred years 

 for a deposit of six feet to be formed ; and thus the harpoon and flint stratum would 

 be about four thousand years old. The accuracy of this calculation is, indeed, in- 

 jured by the possibility that the winter cold was more intense and the splitting 

 action of the frost greater in pre- than in post-Roman times. Nevertheless the 

 change from the arctic severity of the postglacial winter to the climate which we 

 now enjoy in Britain has been so gradual, and spread over so long a period, that 

 it may be assumed to have been very small in so short a time as four or five 

 thousand years. 



These two layers containing ti'aces of man gradually coalesced as the excavation 

 passed into the cave, and at last became so confused together as not to be easily 

 distinguished at a few feet fi-om the entrance. The remains of a gigantic bear, 

 which had been eaten probably, may be assigned to the lower horizon, which 

 furnished flint flakes and a bone harpoon in form resembling that used by the 

 natives of Nootka Sound. The upper or Romano-Celtic stratum continued to supply 

 evidence of the comparatively late date of its accumulation in barbarous imitations 

 of coins of Tetricus (a.d. 267-273). A portion of the ivory handle of a Roman 

 sword and a coin of Trajan have also been found, along with large quantities of the 

 bones of animals that had been used as food. Several spurs of cocks proved that 

 the inhabitants ate the domestic fowl, which was probably imported into this 

 country either directly or indirectly by the Romans. The most striking object, 

 however, is a beautiful sigmoid fibula made of bronze, and ornamented with a 

 beautiful pattern in red, yellow, green, and blue enamel. It is an admirable ex- 

 ample of the art of enamelling (" Britannicum opus " ?) which seems to be peculiar 

 to the Celts. 



On the Shadows of Genius. ByW. C. Dendt. 



On the Geological Changes which have Occurred since the first Traces of Man in 

 Europe. By Professor P. Martin Duncan, M.D., F.R.S., Sec. G.S. 



The Relation of the Ancient Moabites to Neighbouring Nations, as disclosed in 

 the newly discovered Moahite Stone *. By the Rev. C. D. Ginsbxjrg, LL.D. 



The newly discovered Moabite stone discloses several important facts in the rela- 

 tion between the Moabites and the neighbouring nations which are niaterial con- 

 tributions to ethnology, geography, and paleography, in celebrating on this 

 triumphal pillar the enfranchisement of Moab from the thraldom of Israel, by 

 successive victories which Mesha, king of Moab, gained over Omri, king of Israel 

 and his dynasty {circa B.C. 884) ; the new facts bearing upon these departments, 

 therein exhibited, may be stated as follows : — 



1. The Moabites were an independent nation from the reign of Solomon ; they 

 were resubjugated by Omii (B.C. 924), and Mesha regained the liberty of his 

 coimtry ; aud the land remained in the undisturbed possession of_ the Moabites up 



* This paper, including a commentary on the inscription, has been printed separately 

 in extenso. 



