TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION IL 858 



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 

 The following Reports and Papers were read : — 



1 . Iie2)oH on Excavations on Roman Sites in Britain. 

 See Reports, p. 34:2. 



2. Recent Excavations at Roman Chester. By Dr. R. Newstead. 



During' the demolition of some house property in Chester a section of the 

 Roman Wall was discovered, of a total length of bQ feet 10 inches. It is built of 

 ashlar, the greatest height of this wall being approximately 6 feet 6 inches, and con- 

 sisting of seven courses of masonry laid in very regular and for the most part closely 

 jointed courses without mortar joints or embedding. The ashlar work is backed 

 by rubble of roughly hewed pieces of rock coursed more or less to correspond Avith 

 the masonry. Large quantities of soil were used to fill in the cavities between 

 the masonry and rubble. The foundations were deep and built of rubble similar 

 to the inner lining. The lowest course was formed of a single layer of boulder 

 stones buried in mortar and resting on a stratum of soft undisturbed red sand- 

 stone. Behind the rubble of the wall was found a solid bank of stiff clayey loam 

 5 feet in height. It is probable that this wall of clay was at one time supported 

 by masonry or stonework. The house was excavated in two places and a portion 

 exposed in a third. It was not of the usual V-shape, the bottom being broad and 

 Hat and measuring 4 feet 4 inches in width. The greatest width from lip to lip 

 was approximately 22 feet, and the greatest depth 9 feet .3 inches. 



Among the finds were shells of helix aspersa, bones of frog, and portions of the 

 pelvis of a sheep or goat. Fragments of amphorae and cinerary urns of Upchurch 

 ware, pieces of Samian, roofing tiles and imbrices, pieces of glass, one of an amber- 

 green colour hitherto unrepresented at Chester, a bone pin and two coins, one 

 probably a first bronze of Hadrian, were also discovered. The only prehistoric 

 implement found was a beautifully preserved flint axe of palaeolithic type. 



3. Some Remarks on the Irish Horse and its Early History, 

 By Dr. R. F. Sciiarff. 



That the modern Connemara pony possesses certain features of resemblance to 

 Arab horses is well known, and has been recently emphasised by Professor Ewart 

 in his description of the various Irish breeds of ponies. This character is 

 currently believed to be due to a comparatively recent introduction into Ireland 

 of Eastern stock. Professor Ridgeway not only puts the date of this introduc- 

 tion as far back as pre-Christian times, but he contends that these supposed Eastern 

 horses were imported from France, and were originally of Libyan origin. 



The most complete remains of the ancient horse discovered in Ireland were 

 obtained by Mr. George Coftey in the Craigywarreu Crannog, county Antrim. 

 The human implements and weapons found with them imply that the occupation 

 of the Crannog dates back to early Christian times. The horses were then, no 

 doubt, domesticated. Their resemblance to the Arab type of horse is quite as 

 striking a feature as that in the modern Connemara pony. 



The remains from a tumulus and from Irish bogs, marls, and caves in the Irish 

 National Museum are less complete, but they all indicate that in still more remote 

 times a small race of horse, apparently similar to that of the Crannog period, 

 lived in Ireland. It is important to note that some of these remains probably 

 belonged to wild races. 



The available evidence seems, therefore, to support the view that the resern- 

 blance of the modern Connemara pony to the Eastern or Libyan race of horse is 

 not entirely due to human iniroduction of foreign stock, but to the fact that the 

 wild horse of Ireland possessed the same characteristics as the latter and trans- 

 mitted them to the existing ancient domestic breeds. 



