370 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, 



The Age of Stone Circles. — Report of the Committee, consisting of 

 Mr. C. H. Eead (Chairman), Mr. H. Balfour {Secretary), Sir 

 John Evans, Dr. J. G. Garson, Dr. A. J. Evans, Dr. R. Munro, 

 Professor BoYD Dawkins, and Mr. A. L. Lewis, appointedj to 

 conduct Explorations with the object of ascertaining the Age of Stone 

 Circles. (Drawn up by the Secretary.) 



Owing to the late date at which excavations were conducted in 1905, 

 the presentation of the Committee's report was unavoidably deferred to 

 the present year. 



The Committee, after having considered various possible sites for 

 excavation, finally decided upon the examination of the stone circle 

 known as the ' Stripple Stones,' situated upon the slopes of Hawkstor, 

 near Blisland, Cornwall. This circle is by no means a fine one, but it is 

 one of the few which are surrounded by a definite fosse, and it was con- 

 sidered probable that, as in the case of the circle at Arbor Low, which 

 had previously been examined, the evidence derived from objects found 

 under the silting of a fosse would be of a more convincing nature, as 

 furnishing a clue to the period to which the monument belongs, than that 

 derived from other portions of a stone circle. A preliminary inspection 

 of the circle was made by Mr. Henry Balfour in company with Mr. 

 H. St. George Gray, and the suitability of the site was reported upon to 

 the Committee. Leave to conduct excavations was kindly given by the 

 owner of the land, Sir William Onslow, Bart., to whom the Committee 

 tender their hearty thanks. As in former years, Mr. H. St. G. Gray, of 

 Taunton, was placed in charge of the excavations, under the general 

 direction of the Committee. The Committee's sincere thanks are due to 

 the Rev. E. Vernon Collins, Rector of Blisland, through whose kindly 

 help in securing the co-operation of the tenant-farmer, Mr. W. Jane, and 

 in advising as to the employment of local labourers, and in a variety of 

 other ways, the preliminary arrangements were very greatly facilitated. 

 The value of his assistance cannot be over-estimated, and his friendly 

 hospitality and the interest which he throughout displayed in the work 

 were very much appreciated. 



The excavations were conducted by Mr. Gray with great care and 

 attention to detail, under trying circumstances to some extent, owing to 

 wet weather, which hampered the work considerably. The results, as far 

 as ' finds ' are concerned, were disappointing. With the exception of a few 

 flints showing human workmanship, practically nothing was discovered, 

 in spite of a large area of the circle and fosse having been very thoroughly 

 explored. The scarcity of relics was, in fact, most striking, and would 

 seem to point to the probability of the circle having been for occasional 

 and not prolonged use, presumably for sporadic ceremonial purposes 

 alone. The total absence of metal amongst the ' finds ' is noteworthy, 

 and it may perhaps be fairly assumed that the period to which the 

 ' Stripple Stones' circle belongs is materially the same as that assigned, 

 on better evidence, to the far finer circle at Arbor Low in Derbyshire, 

 viz., not earlier than late Neolithic times, nor later than the early Bronze 

 Age. It may at least be said that no evidence was forthcoming tending 



