ON THE AGE 0^ STONE CIRCLES. '405 



the iiomecUate supervision of Mr. Thos. Leslie, also cue of the officers 

 of the estate. The ' finds ' consisted mostly of fragments of pottery, one 

 or two worked bones, a few flint implements, animal bones, and red-deer 

 antlers, some bearing evidence of having been used as picks. The latter 

 were found in the vallum, having been thrown up in a damaged condition 

 at the time of their being broken — viz. when the ditch was originally 

 being excavated and the vallum built. The fosse, apparently, did not 

 yield any important results, as the excavations were carried only to a 

 depth of 7^ feet from the surface of the silting (about the depth at which 

 I came to the upper margin of the chalk rubble in the middle of the 

 S. fosse). It would appear, therefore, that when the white chalk rubble 

 (in fairly large knobs) was reached, it was thought to be the floor of the 

 fosse. Mr. Leslie speaks of Romano-British pottery, which may pi'obably 

 be correct for the fragments found towards the bottom of his ditch- 

 digging, but he does not appear to have dug more than a foot or so into 

 the pre-Roman strata of the silting. He does not speak of Norman and 

 Early English pottery in his notes, but those pieces found above 4^ feet 

 in the silting would probably, on close examination, prove to be post- 

 Roman shards. Perhaps the most interesting structural item revealed 

 by the 1894 excavations was a possible indication of an inner mound, 

 or vallum, subsequently surmounted by another vallum after the growth 

 of vegetation on the pi-esumably earlier structure. Mr. Leslie found the 

 surface line of an inner bank defined by a curved band of vegetable mould 

 measuring about 3^ inches thick. His rough notes are at present in my 

 possession, and when a fuller illustrated account of the Avebury excava- 

 tions is published, it is hoped that the 1894 digging may be spoken of at 

 greater length. The drawings, relics, and full notes, over which Mr. Leslie, 

 unfortunately, had no control at the close of the diggings, have been lost 

 beyond recovery, it is feared, a fact which minimises the scientific value of 

 those excavations very considerably. 



III. The 1908 Excavations. 



(a) Prefatory Remarks. — It was considered by the Committee that the fosse 

 was more likely to furnish evidence of date than any other part of the Circles,' 

 and a broad, well-preserved portion on the S., on Lord Avebury 's property, 

 situated about 156 feet W. of the Kennet Avenue entrance to this ancient 

 enclosure, was therefore selected for the purpose of excavation. A considerable 

 amount of surface silting appeared to have accumulated here, chiefly the result of 

 road-dirt being drained into this portion of the fosse through the gateway on the 

 high road. As one walks from ihe cutting to the gateway the silting naturally 

 increases in depth. The part selected for digging was practically level from N. 

 to S., and then began to rise in a S. direction towards the crest of the vallum, 

 and in a N. direction towards the level area on which the circles of stones stood. 

 In most parts of the earthwork the surface of the silting, the escarp of the 

 ditch, and the summit of the vallum combined, show an ogee outline, but the S.E. 

 quarter of the vallum and fosse diflered,- and the curve from the surface of the 

 silting to the crest of the vallum is not a true ogee, as a berme, or terrace, exists 

 at the base of the vallum and above the escarp of the fosse. 



The excavations began on Tuesday, May 19, and continued till Saturday, 

 June 6. The average number of men employed daily was nine, but for more than 



' A preliminary inspection of the site was made on April 14, 1908, when Mr. 

 C. H. Read (Chairman), Mr. Henry Balfour (Secretary), Mr. A. L. Lewis, and Mr. 

 — St. George Gray met at Avebury. 



' Where Sir Henry Meux's excavations took place. 



