ON THE AGE OF STONE CIRCLES. 103 



says the N. circle was not more than 270 feet and the S. circle 320 feet 

 in diameter. 



Avebury has a circumference (according to Smith and others) of no 

 less than 4,442 feet ; whereas the vallum and fosse at Stoneheuge measure 

 only 1,107 feet in circumference, curiously enough, almost exactly one 

 quarter of Avebury. Again, the diameter of the area at Avebury within 

 the encircling vallum measures 1,400 feet, whereas that within the vallum 

 at Stonehenge measures but .300 feet.^ The average height of the central 

 area of Avebury above mean sea level is 525 feet. It is, like Stonehenge, 

 commanded by higher ground at a short distance off. 



W. C. Lukis's plan, in Smith's large book on North Wilts, is probably 

 the best as yet existing, showing the remaining stones and the probable 

 position of others as ascertained by probing ; also the position of holes 

 which existed (some still exist) in the central plateau enclosed by the 

 fosse. From it we find that in 1881 fifteen stones were still standing, 

 sixteen prostrate stones remained visible, the existence of eighteen others, 

 now buried underground, was ascertained, and thirty-three pits were 

 observed in which stones formerly stood. Thus Lukis and Smith 

 accounted for eighty-two stones altogether. The sarsens of Avebury 

 are far larger than those of Stonehenge. 



Avebury is one of the few stone circles where the ditch is within and 

 the rampart outside. Other instances of this design occur at the follow- 

 ing circles : — Arbor Low Derbyshire (already excavated) ; ^ the Stripple 

 Stones, Cornwall (also excavated) ; ^ Stennis and the Ring of Brogar, in 

 the Orkneys ; and Arthur's Round Table, in Cumberland ; also at 

 Chlorus' Camp, N.E. of Salisbury.'* At Stonehenge the shallow fosse is 

 outside the feeble vallum. 



II. Previous Excavatmis. 



Avebury has been the site of archaeological explorations on three 

 former occasions, but in each case the relics appear to have been lost,* 

 and very little indeed from the great ' Temple ' is to be found in local 

 or other museums.'' In the first instance, excavations were conducted 

 under the direction of the Wiltshire Archireological and Natural History- 

 Society in September and October 1865.^ 'Considerable i-esearches ' 

 were made by ' sinking holes in many places, running trenches across 

 certain spots, and tunnelling the large external mound.' In the vicinity 

 of ' The Cove,' within the N. circle, no traces of a burial deposit were 

 found. It is stated that just under the turf two or three fragments of 

 British pottery were found, together with bones of sheep and a small 

 piece of burnt micaceous sandstone. In digging close to the two large 

 stones of 'The Cove,' layers of blocks of sarsens, up to a size of 18 inches 



' These measurements are not mine, but taken from vaiious authorities. 



'^ Archceolpgia, Iviii. 461-498; Brit. Assoc. Peports 1901, 427-436, and 1902, 

 455-465; Journ. Derhysh. Arehesol. and N. H. Sjc, xxvi. 41-77. 



» Brit. Assoc. Reports, 1906, 370-382 ; Archa'ologia, Ixi. p. 1, et seq. (not yet 

 published). 



' Hoare's Ancient Wiltshire, vol. i. 217. 



'■ Since writing this the potterj- found in 1881 b.isbeen sent to me for examination 

 from Devizes Museuifl. 



" In a fuller account of the Avebury excavations I hope to give a list of ' iinds ' 

 previously made at or near this ancient monument. 



' Wilts Arch. Mag., x. 209-216. 



D D 2' 



