738 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



of 30 feet. There were two upright flagstones 2 feet high and 2 feet apart. 

 The average height of the walls remaining in situ would be about 3 feet. 

 Probably 60 or 70 feet had fallen and helped to form the mound. Vegetation 

 had grown and decayed and buried the stupendous structure for ages. Who 

 were the broch builders and when did they live? are interesting questions. 

 Dr. Davidson identified five successive layers of ashes and pavement, and the 

 charred remains of wood indicated the fuel. Trunks and branches of pine, 

 birch, and hazel-nuts are frequently got in peat cutting at considerable depth 

 in Cogle moss. 



Dr. Davidson made sections of some of these pines, and found that their 

 annual rate of growth coincided with that of the chaired fragments found so 

 abundantly in the broch. 



The most important of the neolithic remains were the stone pestles found 

 in the lowest stratum of ashes. These, over twenty, were in only a few instances 

 pestle shaped. They were made of hard-grained, basaltic-like stone, and were 

 originally of oval or oblong shape. By constant use in pounding the edges were 

 bevelled, and a few of them were worn quite circular and bevelled all round. 

 Two stones with shallow mortal's were found. Home saddle querns were un- 

 earthed with the usual manu or hand-grinding stone. Numerous stone pebbles, 

 probably used for sling stones, were found. 



Almost all the bones were broken to extract the marrow. None showed evi- 

 dence of fire, and the condition of the bor.es would show that they are very 

 imperfectly cooked. Parts of tusks of boar, goat, horse, and ox could be identi- 

 fied, and also bat, with probably great auk. These have been sent to Professor 

 Bryce, Glasgow University, for further investigation. 



4. Some Unexplored Fields in British Archceologij. By George Clinch. 



The purpose of this paper was threefold, viz. : — 



1. To indicate some hitherto unexplored fields of research where antiquities 

 await the spade of the field-archaeologist j 



2. To draw attention to the wholesale destruction of antiquities now going on 

 in different parts of the kingdom ; and 



3. To suggest the establishment of regular and systematic oversight of great 

 engineering works which involve excavation an 1 removal of the soil. 



The value of the Bpade in archaeological investigations was never more appre- 

 ciated than it is to-day ; yet, in spite of activity in various directions, many 

 fields of research remain either entirely unoccupied or only partially worked. 

 Whilst Roman sites are being explored in considerable numbers in England, 

 Wales, and Scotland, the remains of pre-Roman times are, with one or two 

 exceptions, comparatively neglected. It is remarkable that so little attention is 

 given to the sites of prehistoric huts and other dwellings. A hint of what mnv 

 be expected by further excavation of these sites is afforded by the recent acci" 

 dental discovery of gold tores of the Bronze Age under the floors of ancient hut 

 dwellings at Bexley, Kent. 



The sites of ancient dwellings exist in large numbers in many parts of the 

 country. They may be traced in much of the uncultivated land in England, 

 as well as the mountainous districts of Wales. In certain districts in Wales 

 dwelling-sites are particularly abundant, and in some cases in close proximity to 

 bogs, a circumstance which suggests the advisability of draining the bogs with 

 a view of recovering the antiquities which almost certainly are buried therein. 



Other unoccupied archaeological fields are blown-sands, dry river-beds, the 

 dry sites resulting from shrunken and diverted rivers and drained marshes. 

 In these various deposits the antiquities are in comparative safety, although 

 in many districts scientific investigation, on the lines of the excellent work at 

 Glastonbury, is most desirable. 



The wholesale destruction of antiquities now going on as a result of coast- 

 erosion, and railway and other great engineering works, is a most serious matter. 

 There is pressing need for supervision of all these great works, in order that 

 the antiquities may be rescued and the circumstances of their discovery placed 

 on permanent record. 



