TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 755 



size, shape, plan, &c., of prehistoric dwellings ; the vaulted roofs cut in hard sand 

 reproducing, in general form, the interlaced boughs, benders, and -wicker-work 

 of the ordinary surface hut, and the lateral passage the doorway of the neolithic 

 dwelling. 



The same idea of interment within a house survived during the Bronze Age ; 

 but when cremation came into vogue, a miniature copy of the Bronze Age house — 

 the ' hut-urn ' — was sufficient repository for the ashes. 



The tradition of the circular neolithic hut was carried on in the Celtic beehive 

 dwellings of Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Gaul, and probably in the 

 circular buildings of subsequent English architecture. The Bronze Age dwellings, 

 on the other hand, wliich are reproduced in the ' hut-urns," may be regarded as 

 the prototypes of the square or angular forms of ecclesiastical and domestic 

 architecture. 



9. ' Underground Dvjcllings in the British Isles. 

 By David MacRitchie, F.S.A.Scot. 



The primitive underground habitations described in the paper are typical of 

 a class of structure appai*ently existing at one time throughout the British Isles, 

 though the greater part of the specimens now remaining are found in Ireland and 

 Scotland. It is hardly possible to conceive of human dwellings more archaic in 

 character, and yet some of them, if not all, belong to times that are quite historic. 

 Two specimens, one at Crichton in Mid-Lothian, and the other at Newstead in 

 Hoxburghshire, must have been built after the arrival of the Romans in Britain — 

 and probably a long time after that date — for the reason that a number of dressed 

 stones with Roman ornamentation have been used in their construction, presum- 

 ably taken from Roman ruins. 



That these underground structures were used as places of human abode is 

 obvious, because they contain domestic utensils, such as hand-mills and personal 

 ornaments, as well as the broken bones of animals used by man as food. In a few 

 instances they have a fireplace, but this is very exceptional. Like the similar 

 dwellings of the Eskimos, these underground habitations are so well protected 

 from the cold of even the keenest winter that a fire is not necessary, and oil lamps 

 suffice for heating, lighting, and cooking. From their characteristics, therefore,, 

 these underground structures quite justify the name of ' earth-house,' which is 

 given to them in the Norse sagas and also in living popular speech. 



In appearance they vary considerably, but most of them have their roofs about 

 a foot or two below the surface of the ground, entrance being obtained from above 

 by one or more downward-slanting passages. They are built of rough, undressed, 

 umnortared stones, the walls gradually converging until they meet in a ' Cyclo- 

 pean ' or ' false ' arch, completed by large flagstones laid across. In some cases 

 their very small dimensions support the traditional belief that they were built for 

 a dwarfish race. 



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 

 The following Papers and Report were read :^- 



1. The Oldest Bronze-age Ceramic Type in Britain : its Close Analogies 

 on the Rhine ; its Probable Origin in Central Europe} By the Hon. 

 John Aberceomby. 



The oldest Bronze-age type of pottery in Britain is the ' drinking-cup,' for which 

 it is proposed to substitute the shorter term ' beaker.' Thurman recognised three 

 types, designated a, ^, y. Twenty examples of a, sixteen of /3, and seventeen of y, 

 are illustrated. Type a seems to be the oldest and y to be derived from it ; /3 has 

 a difierent secondary origin from a. Twenty-five interments are described in 



' Will be published in extenso in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute. 



3c2 



