0}f THE AGE OF STONE CIRCLES. 46l 



arrow-heads Wefe ih use at about the same period, and that the forms were 

 contemporaneous ; at any rate, this instance renders it obvious that the 

 barbed or stemmed is not necessarily a later form of arrow-head than the 

 lozenge or leaf -shaped form. 



As far as practicable) it was found desirable to remove the silting of 

 the ditch layer by layer, or spit by spit ; and in this way relics from the 

 upper spits were discovered and recorded before the lower parts were dug 

 into, so that no error as to the depth of the ' finds ' could possibly take 

 place. The method generally adopted, I believe, and the easiest for the 

 workmen, is to remove the material in an excavation to the bottom in one 

 spot, and then under-pick the remainder of the material it is desired to 

 remove, and let all the earth fall to the bottom of the excavation. Many 

 of the relics in this way fall to the bottom of the hole before they are 

 observed, and are recorded as being found at the bottom. This invariably 

 and inevitably leads to error in assigning the various ' lind.s ' to their 

 proper r/isenient, and valuable evidence is not only lost in this way, but 

 hasty and inaccurate conclusions are often arrived at on the merits (?) of 

 unreliable records. 



The Excavation of the Vallum. — In continuation of Section 4 across- 

 the fosse, a cutting, 3^-On wide, was made through the vallum on the 

 north. At this point the crest of the rampart is about r"-4.3 above the 

 ' old surface line ' immediately below it. Like the section of last year 

 through the vallum on the N.W., this cutting yielded no relics, but proved 

 of interest, inasmuch as it was largely composed of huge boulders of lime-- 

 stone (maximum length 1™'22) shown in the photographs. No doubt these 

 boulders had been loosened in the formation of the fosse and utilised for 

 the construction of the vallum. The N.E. face of this cutting was plotted 

 in section on a scale of 60 to 1. Chert and calcite occurred in bands i» 

 the limestone strata here in large quantities, and fluor-spar was detected 

 by Professor Boyd Dawkins.' 



Two photographs of general views of Arbor Low taken this year show 

 the more or less regular form of the vallum on the W. and S.W., and on 

 the other hand the disturbance of the vallum on the S.E., caused not 

 only by the constructors of the barrow on the vallum, but further by the 

 state in which Bateman left the barrow after excavation in 1845. AM 

 along the crest of the eastern and N.E. vallum are irregular depressions, 

 sufficient material for filling which may be observed at intervals in ledges- 

 and patches along the base of the inner side of the E. and N.E. vallum, 

 or, in other words, along the outer edge of the fosse in these parts. The 

 only feasible explanation for this seems to be that Mr. Bateman, elated by 

 his success in finding a cist in the tumulus, pursued his investigations- 

 along the adjacent crest of the vallum at intervals and shovelled the 

 material inwards down the slope of the vallum ! 



Trenching near the Stones. — Three excavations were made this year' 

 with a view to ascertaining whether holes existed in the limestone floor' 

 in which stones I., II., and XXXVII. originally stood, but still without 

 satisfactory results. The various writers on Arbor Low disagree as to* 

 whether the stones originally stood in an upright position, or whether 



' Professor Boyd Dawkins visited the excavations on .tune 2. Mr. Henry Balfour 

 was the whole of the same day at Arbor Low, and a part of the next. On June 4 

 four members of the Derbyshire Archicological Society visited the diggings, includ- 

 ing Mr. H. A. Hubbersty, Mr. W. R. Bryden, and Mr. W. J. Andrew, F.S.A. 



