462 • feEPORt— 1902. 



they always laid, flat on the ground.^ Isaacson declared that they Were 

 never placed in an erect position ; Wilkinson and Pegge assert the re- 

 verse ; Pilkington and Glover were ' uncertain ' ; Dr. Brushfield appears 

 to be of opinion that the stones originally stood Upright ; Lord Avebury^ 

 writing some twenty-three years agoj stated cautiously, ' It is doubtful 

 whether they were ever upright.' ^ 



The first hole, S^-IS x l™-37, was made to the east of and close to Stone 

 XXXVII. There Was a well-marked depression in the turf here, and the 

 stone has a flat squared surface at the end. Just below the tUrf, dfepth 

 9 cm. (Plan 35), a small fragment of red pottery, apparently Romano- 

 British, was foutid, and at 34 (plan and photograph) a small discoidal 

 flint scraper, 31 x 26'5 mm. and 7'7 mm. at its thickest part, yellowish- 

 brown and translucent, was found in mould at a depth of 18 cm. It is 

 worked all round the edges and on both faces, and in addition all over the 

 bulb of percussion ; in size and general character it resembles the small 

 scrapers frequently found in association with Roman remains. A hole in the 

 limestone floor certainly existed close to the N.E. of the stone, of more or 

 less oblong form, length r""77, maximum depth below surface of turf 

 64 cm. This hole, however, appeared to me merely one of the usual 

 natural shallow depressions in the limestone, and the excavation afforded 

 no evidence of a hole having been cut for the reception of the base of 

 a standing stone. 



Attention was now turned to the central stones, where a large patch of 

 trenching, 10™-6S x 2™'13, was dug last year, resulting in the discovery of 

 the extended human skeleton fully described by Dr. Gai-son and myself in 

 last year's report. The S.W. face of Stone I. in the centre being bordered 

 by a marked trench bounded again on the west by a slight bank or mound, 

 an excavation 4"'- x l^-SO was next made. Digging had evidently taken 

 place here in recent times, presumably by Bateman in 1845, when he 

 opened the bari'ow on the vallum to the S.E. The rock was reached at a 

 maximum depth of 61 cm. below the highest part of the turf and a mini- 

 mum depth of 30 cm. Early Victorian shards were found, and a clay 

 tobacco-pipe bowl, also nineteenth century ; also a Hint flake, depth 9 cm. 

 at 36 f)n plan, and a fragment of blackish Romano-British pottery, depth 

 40 cm. 



A third hole, 2'"-44x l">-37 was made at the N.W. end of Stone II., 

 maximum depth 76 cm., minimum depth 52 cm.. No evidence as re- 

 gards the original position of this stone. Whether it ever stood upright, 

 could not be adduced from this digging, and nothing was found but a flint 

 flake at 38 on plan, at a depth of 15 cm. Time and funds did not permit 

 of anything further being done in the ' centre.' 



Excavations in the small Di/ke connected ivith the Vallum of Arbor 

 Low on the S. W. — The primary idea of excavation here was to ascertain 

 whether the ditch of this small dyke, sometimes known as ' the Serpent,' 

 continued under the rampart of the larger earthwork, and if possible to 

 prove its age by means of any relics that might be found. The ditch on 

 the surface is only marked by a very slight depression, and the rampart 

 averages only 46cm. above the level of the surrounding held. Doubtless 

 the bank was higher at the time of construction, but denudation has 



' Stone XVI. of my plan at the present leans towards the N.E. at about 36° or 40° 

 with the general turf level. 



- Jourii. Brit. Arch. Assoc, vol. vi., new series, 1900, p. 131. 



