lOO REPORTS OX THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 



Tlie Age of Stone Cirdes. — Report of the Committee, consisting of 

 Mr. C. H. Read (Chairman), Mr. H. Balfour (Secretary), Lord 

 AvEBURY, Dr. J. Gr. Garson, Dr. A. J. Evans, Dr. E. Munro, 

 Professor Boyd Dawkins, and Mr. A. L. Lewis, appointed to 

 conduct Explorations with the object of ascertaining the Age of Stone 

 Circles. 



The Committee report that they have been able to carry out the plan 

 of making excavations at Avebury, on the portion of the monument 

 belonging to Lord Avebury, who kindly gave the necessary permission. 

 The Committee in their last report asked for a larger grant than usual, 

 owing to the size and importance of the work, and it has been found that 

 the conditions were even more exacting than was foreseen. Owing 

 to the great scale of the vallum and fosse, and more especially from the 

 unexpectedly great depth of the latter, only a small section could he 

 entirely explored. The small portions investigated have, however, yielded 

 interesting results, though the evidence is not so conclusive as the Com- 

 mittee had hoped. 



The most remarkable feature in the exploration was the great depth 

 of the fosse. Before the original bottom was reached nearly 17 feet 

 of silting had to be removed, and as the fosse at this point was about 

 35 feet wide at the surface of the silting and 17 feet wide at the bottom, 

 and the cutting 24 feet long, the quantity of soil to be removed involved 

 a very serious outlay. The section exposed showed very clearly the 

 stratification of the silting. The relics found were few, but they bore 

 out the theoretical chronology of the tilling in of the ditch. At the 

 bottom, practically on the floor of the fosse, were found picks made from 

 the antlers nf red deer, showing signs of use ; while at higher levels were 

 found fragments of Bronze Age pottery, above these Roman fragments, 

 and in the upper layers Norman and more recent relics. The deerhorn 

 picks recall the flint mines at Cissbury and Grimes Craves, where similar 

 picks were found in the workings and clearly belonged to Late Neolithic 

 times. All that can be said at present is that the relics tend to confirm 

 the theory that the circle at Avebury is of tlie Neolithic or Early Bronze 

 period : but this can hardly be said to be proved by the present explora- 

 tion. It is of the greatest importance, however, that an effort should 1)0 

 made now to decide this question definitely, and the Committee feels 

 very strongly that the explorations at Avebury should be continued. 



The Committee ha\e been fortunate in again securing the services of 

 Mr. H. St. G. Gray, who has superintended the workmen with his usual 

 thoroughness ; he has made careful scale di-awings of the sections 

 exposed, and a series of photographs of the cutting at different stages of 

 progress. Mr. Gray's detailed report is appended. 



The Committee desire to thank Lord Avebury for kindly allowing 

 the explorations to be made, and their thanks are also due to the Vicar, 

 the Rev. J. G. Ward, for his services in securing labourers. 



The Committee ask to be reappointed with a grant of 120/., and 

 with permission to accept contributions towards the cost of exploration 

 from other sources. 



