ANCIENT KITCHEN MIDDEN. SOL 



kinds, the upper part of which is a subaerial deposit, which varies in 

 thickness from an inch or two up to four feet. Below this is the midden 

 material, composed of all sorts of the waste products of life. It is usually 

 •only a few inches in thickness, but occasionally it is eighteen inches thick. 

 It is much darker than the adjacent material, owing to the large quantity 

 of charcoal and other carbonaceous matter contained in it. Frequently 

 there are hearths which occur on old surfaces, where the material has been 

 burnt to a red-brick mass, extending downwards from half an inch to 

 three inches ; in wet weather this is very friable and rotten. In places 

 there are seams of shells : the most extensive layers consist of those of 

 tnussels and oysters, which ai'e in the woi'st state of preservation. Limpets 

 are almost as plentiful, but better preserved than the former. Winkles are 

 very abundant, and always of very large size. Buccinum undatum is 

 fairly plentiful, but Trophon is absent. Cardium echinatuin is frequently 

 found, but no trace of C. edule has been observed. The occurrence of Pur- 

 2mra lapilhis is curious. Some pieces of bone have recently been discovered 

 stained of a purple colour, which would suggest a knowledge of the dye 

 furnished by this species. Pecten opercidaris, Natica, and Mactra also 

 occurred, while in one place a heap of snail-shells of a very large size 

 was found : these are probably Helix aspersa, but the shells are larger and 

 more globose than those of the existing species, and the light-brown bands 

 •of colour that are left make the species to resemble //. pomatia. There 

 is also a large quantity of fish-bones distributed through the material, 

 :Sonie of which bear traces of roasting : they include skate, gurnard, cod, 

 whiting, mackerel, sole, turbot, and plaice. Large quantities of other 

 bones formed part of the material ; they are always detached, and bones 

 are never found together in the natural position ; frequently they show 

 the action of fire, and all the marrow-bones are split. In two cases a 

 split bone was discovered with a flint wedge still iyi situ. The bones 

 include those of frog, ducks, some species of gull, red and black grouse, 

 ■and other species of birds not yet determined ; rabbit, pig, horse, sheep, 

 goat, red deer, roe, ox, badger, fox, wolf, dog. 



Fragments of pottery abound occasionally ; it is possible to restore 

 about a third part of a vessel, from which its nature and shape can be 

 ■determined. They are all of domestic patterns (iiot burial), flat-bottomed, 

 and they usually have a deposit of soot upon them. Some appear to be very 

 coarse and sun-dried, but the majority are well-baked and hand-made. 

 They vary in colour from a discoloured dirty red to black, the latter pre- 

 •dominating. They ai-e, on the average, of good neolithic quality. 



Large quantities of flint bouldei-s appear to have been taken up for 

 implement-making. All the implements are small ; no axe or war 

 implement has been discovered. Many hundreds of flakes show signs of 

 •wear, and these sometimes reach five inches in length. Round and 

 hollow scrapers abound, from a very large size down to needle-makers, as 

 <do all kinds of drills. None of the arrow or lance heads are barbed, but 

 they are often very symmetrically worked to a lanceolate shape. The 

 commonest form is a nicely worked lanceolate-shaped flake, single or 

 double ridged, generally the latter, with a well-formed butt, with or 

 •without secondary work on the edges. The butt ends of hundreds of 

 these have been found, the points excessively rarely. There is, however, 

 a still more interesting gi-oup of implements than any of the foregoing, 

 ■owing to their diminutive size, their peculiar outlines, and delicate work — 

 implements in every way similar to those which have been found in 



