266 KEPOET— 1892. 



Mather and Piatt, of Salford Iron Works ; Messrs. Timmins, of Rancorn ; 

 the Salt Union, the United Alkali Trust, and others ; but in view of the 

 course snggested to avoid repetition, it appears most desirable to defer 

 publication until next year should the Committee be reappointed. 



Report of the Committee, consisting of Mr. J. W. Davis {Chair- 

 man), Eev. IE. Jones {Secretary), Drs. J. Evans and J. Gr. 

 GrAESON, and Messrs. W. Pengelly, E. H. Tiddeman, and J. J. 

 Wilkinson, appointed to complete the investigation of the Cave 

 at Elholton, near Skipton, in order to ascertain whether Remains 

 of Palceolithic Man occur in the Lower Cave Earth, {Drawn 

 up by Eev. E. Jones.) 



The exploration of this interesting cave was continued from the month 

 of September 1891 to January last. The work excavated and examined 

 has been extensive and a much lower level reached, but no new features 

 of any value have been obtained. The difficulty and expense of working 

 increase with the depth. Large blocks of stone and a stalagmitic floor 

 two to three feet in thickness were broken up by the aid of gunpowder. 

 The fissure is now fifty-five feet in depth from what was the floor of the 

 chamber when the cave was discovered. It has narrowed considerably, 

 being now only four to six feet in thickness. 



At the west end of the fissure the material continues to be crowded 

 with bones of Alpine hares and a few bones of bears and foxes, but the 

 rest of the fissure is now barren, and is composed of soft adhesive clay 

 resting on a layer of sand and gravel. This seems to indicate that we 

 are near the bottom of the fissure and pothole, and that our work will 

 be finished when this is reached. 



The age of these lower deposits has yet to be ascertained. No bones 

 of man, or of the horse or dog, animals domesticated by Neolithic men, 

 have been found in them, while the bones of bear, absent in the upper 

 layer, are abundant in the lower. The red deer and boar are found in 

 both layers, but the reindeer only in the clay layer. Angular pieces of 

 limestone are imbedded in the clay, but no boulders or scratched stones 

 have been found in it. 



The whole deposit is post-Glacial, but a great length of time must 

 have intervened before Neolithic man dwelt in the cave and buried his 

 dead there. The accumulation of forty feet of ossiferous material with a 

 series of stalagmitic floors some three feet thick before the advent of the 

 Neolith must represent a long period. No indications of Palceolithic man 

 have been found. 



The ' finds ' require tabulating ; many bones are still undetermined, and 

 various abnormal bones, both human and animal, should be noted. The 

 Committee desire therefore to be reappointed to prepare a final report, 

 but do not apply for a grant. 



