ON THE EXPLORATION OP THE CAVES OF THE SOUTH OF IRELAND. 219 



company a spot on the townland of Ballylionock, not far from Castle 

 Martyr, in the Co. Cork, where in a piece of rocky uncultivated ground 

 we found a kitchen-midden containing hones of domesticated animals, 

 charcoal, sea-shells, a quern stone, sharpening stones, and several other 

 relics of man. Beneath the above, or mixed with them, we found a 

 number of human bones, both of adults and young children (there were 

 six or eight of the latter), apparently the remains of bodies that had 

 been entire when deposited there. Previous to our excavations there had 

 been discovered at the same spot one of the dumbbell-shaped stones, 

 cupped at each end, that have been found in other places in Ireland. It 

 is now in the Cork Institute. 



I also excavated the kitchen-midden of a rath at Bewley, in the 

 Co. Waterford, where I found, among charcoal, slag, burned stones and 

 numerous broken bones of ox, goat, Vg> horse, and red deer, a quantity 

 of broken pieces of hand-made pottery of rude make, full of quartz 

 grains and representing a number of vessels of considerable size, charrfd 

 and burned sometimes internally and sometimes externally. This pottery 

 was all broken, and generally in a most friable condition. Shells of the 

 fresh-water mussel were also found in this refuse-heap, and a human 

 metacarpal or metatarsal bone ; but the most remarkable object I naet 

 with there was a rude stone hatchet formed from a waterworn flattish 

 stone, adapted for the purpose by breaking it across and chipping its 

 broad broken extremity to an edge, two deep indentations being also 

 made at opposite sides, evidently to hold a ligature or attachment for a 

 handle. 



Continuing my researches along the scarp where the bone-cave of 

 Ballynamintra is situated, I found in and around the mouth of a small 

 cave on the townland of Ballynameelah another kitchen-midden with 

 bones of the usual domestic animals and red deer, charcoal, slag, flint- 

 chips, sea-shells, some pieces of iron, pieces of a jet bracelet, a fine ring 

 of bronze, probably an ear-ring, portion of a bone comb of a type to be 

 described, a carved bone whorl, and a number of whetstones. 



In the month of May last I commenced operations in a rath situated 

 on a high rocky knoll that forms the scarp opposite to that containing 

 the bone cave. This rock is called Carrigmurish, or the Eock of Maurice. 

 A tradition exists that a highwayman named Maurice Conway lived there, 

 who was put to death on the rock for his crimes. The rath consists of a 

 ring fence in a ruinous condition, and contained a depression flanked 

 on one side by a rock that appeared hollow beneath. This hollow I 

 found at once to contain the kitchen-midden of the rath, and now that 

 it is excavated to the depth of some thirty feet it is shown to have filled 

 a cave, descending at an angle of 50° or so, of considerable size, _ This 

 cavity was choked with earth and stones containing large quantities of 

 charcoal, bones, and other relics. The larger bones were almost all 

 broken, to extract the marrow. The animals represented were a small 

 breed of oxen (the foreheads of which were broken in), pigs, goats, asses, 

 red deer, and in a few instances dogs, cats, and domestic fowl. Some of 

 the canine bones were of large size. Pieces of the antlers of red deer 

 were plentiful. These were generally cut in lengths with a saw, the cuts 

 being made at both sides and the piece then broken off. Several articles 

 of antler were found, marling- spikes or piercers, pins, whorls, and beads. 

 An interesting series of narrow scoops occurred, one class of which are 

 made of the tibise of goats and another of those of fowl. Pins of the 



