359 

 PREHISTORIC REMAINS AT DONCASTER. 



A. JORDAN. 



Four or five years ago extensive alterations were carried out 

 by removing the turf and levelling large areas on Doncaster 

 Race Common. The race track was sunk in one part, and 

 large elevated grounds were made near the grand stand. 



During these alterations I paid constant visits, and on the 

 Rose Hill side I found several neolithic flint flakes. A flint 

 flake knife, nearly three inches long, of red flint ; the other 

 flakes are blue, except one which is quite black. Near the 

 grand stands I found a flint scraper and a flint disc. 



The flint disc is a peculiar implement and its use not clear. 

 It is found in varied numbers, often with the dead, and by 

 early writers was thought to have been some sort of currency, 

 possibly to pay toll on the journey to the next world. 



Many years ago one of the finest polished axes ever 

 found in Yorkshire was obtained on the Common, and is now 

 in the Doncaster Museum ; also of interest was the discovery 

 under the turf over a very large area, of long strips of land, 

 like occupation plots, about forty feet wide and three to four 

 hundred yards long. 



They were in the southern part of the Common, at the foot 

 of Rose Hill, parallel to each other, and each plot extending 

 in a southerly direction. 



I pointed this out to the Borough Surveyor, Mr. Kirby, 

 who said he had noticed similar plots near the grand stand, 

 which had been covered up before I saw them. 



It is pleasant to think the Doncaster Race Common, which, 

 in peace times, gives pleasure to thousands with its racing, was 

 also the settlement of men in neolithic times, a people who built 

 the foundation of our present life. 



YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' UNION 

 BOTANICAL SECTION. 



C A. CHEETHAM. 



The annual meeting of this section was held at the Institute, 

 Leeds, on Saturday, October 6th ; the President of the Section, 

 Mr. E. Snelgrove, B.A., occupied the chair. Reports were 

 submitted by the secretaries of the committees and, after 

 discussion, were adopted for submission to the annual meeting 

 of the Union, together with suggested alterations to the officers 

 of the various committees. 



Mr. E. Chas. Horrell gave an address on alien plants, 



1917 Nov. 1. 



