ON THE AGE OF STONE CIRCLES. 413 



however, was at a depth of only 2'5 feet. The roe-deer was represented by a 

 piece of antler at a depth of 7 feet. The sheep jaws and other pieces were found 

 down to 6 feet. Most of the pig teeth, &c., were found in the upper deposits, and 

 the lowest depth appears to have been 6 feet. The dog was represented by lower 

 jaws and bones varying much in size ; some of the smaller may be remains of fox. 

 The lowest dog bones were at 8*8 feet deep. A tibia, found at a depth of Jo-S feet, 

 gave 1 foot 11^ inches for the height of the animal, and a humerus at about the 

 same depth gave a height of 1 foot 9 inches. 



(h) Concluding Remarks. — The excavations at Avebury, so far as 

 they have gone, have given satisfactory and encouraging results ; bu1> 

 the evidence of date is not strong enough to determine, with any degree 

 of precision, whether the fosse and vallum were constructed in late 

 Neolithic times or in the early Bronze Age ; and we have not yet 

 decided the relative dates of Stonehenge and Avebury — a matter of far- 

 reaching interest and importance to the archteologist. The enormous 

 fosse with its steep sides, great depth, and surprising width, is probably 

 the largest ancient ditch in Britain that has ever been re-excavated. 

 In the work of the re-excavation of the great ditch encircling the long 

 barrow known as Wor Barrow, Handley, Dorset, it was found that 

 the deepest part was 13^ feet below the silting. This was regarded as 

 a stupendous undertaking ; at Avebury, however, we had the task of 

 removing 16| feet of silting before reaching the floor of the fosse. 



No doubt the Avebury fosse inci'eased in width a good deal, during 

 the time that it was left open, to the bottom ; but when allowed to fill 

 up the chalk rubble must have accumulated very rapidly, probably in a 

 period not exceeding fifty years. The relics found in this deposit, there- 

 fore, although it could not be expected that they would be numerous, 

 are of the highest importance as evidence of date, not necessarily of the 

 actual time of construction, but approximately of the time when the fosse 

 was allowed to fill up from natural causes. After the profile of the 

 fosse became covered with silting, the rate of filling would become very 

 much slower and would advance in a decreasing ratio as time went on. 

 Three fragments of pottery of Bronze Age type in the lowest deposit are 

 not enough to base a sound conclusion on, and the few flint implements 

 and human remains found there are not of a character to help us in 

 the matter of date. But when antler picks were found on the floor our 

 minds drifted back to late Neolithic times. At any rate until further 

 excavations are conducted, we may rest assured that the fosse of 

 Avebury was constructed in a late stage of the Neolithic or at the 

 beginning of the Bronze Age, a period suggested by Lord Avebury many 

 years ago. 



