330 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



III. The Moat Theory. 



In the fosse excavations before the present season we found the floor fairly 

 smooth, except in Cutting VIII [B.A. Beport, 1911, p. 144), where in a length 

 of 21.5 ft. the levels varied to tlie extent of 2.95 ft. 



Having found tlie floor so irregular in places, especially in the last cutting 

 made, and having more than once heard the suggestion made by antiquaries 

 visiting the excavations that the Avebury fosse might have been a moat supplied 

 by the waters of the River Kennet, I was particularly interested at the time 

 of the excavations to read !Mr. A. D. Passmore's short article, entitled ' The 

 Avebury Ditch,' in The A7itiquarics' Journal, II., 109-111, which was written 

 without any reference or inquiry with regard to my surveys at Avebury. The 

 writer speaks of a ditch being planned with a level bottom ' irrespective of the 

 original level of the ground at any one point'; and he also argues that 'a level 

 of 10 ft. of water could be maintained in the moat surrounding Avebury 

 Circles.' 



During my stay at Avebury I brought my levels into correlation with those 

 given on the 6-in. Ordnance Sheets, and those recorded by ]\Ir. A. H. Lawson in 

 the article referred to. Before doing this I was fully aware from my sectional 

 diagrams that the levels of the bottom of the fosse in the different places I had 

 excavated on the S.S.W. and S.S.E. varied consirlerably, and that the floor of 

 the fosse rose from west to east, so far as my five cuttings are concerned, to 

 the extent of 11.6 ft. The lowest point, on the west, is not much below the 

 present bed of the Kennet stream (according to its level given in The Antiq. 

 Journ.). I hope to work out the details on another occasion, but it was pretty 

 obvious to those who saw the floor of Cutting IX, Fosse, exposed this season, 

 with its rise of 7.55 ft., that the great ditch could not have contained water. 

 Moreover, in none of the cuttings made had any pediment or staining of the 

 ' walls ' been noticed in the lower parts of the f esse. 



IV. Finds from the Posse, Cutting IX (excluding Antler-picks, &c.). 



(a) Remainx from Human Strnfiini. 



256. Five fragments of black and brown Romano-British pottery, including a rim piece. 

 Depth 3..5 ft. 



269. Bronze ring, of plano-convex cross-section ; cxt. diam. 20 mm. ; perhaps a small finger- 

 ring. Depth 3.8 ft. (It has the appearance of being of late date, and may have worked its way 

 down through a hole.) 



270. Three fragments of Romano-British potterv, including a rim piece. Scattered, at depth 

 of 3.4 ft. I- . « r 



{h) JJiiijian I'l'iiinins. 



278. A few human bones, consisting of a fragment of cranium, piece of a lower jaw and frag- 

 ments of bones of a fore-arm. Found at the E. end of the cutting, depth 6.3 ft., in the lower 

 foot of the yellowi.sh-brown mould. (In this light-coloured mould a large number of recent shells 

 were observed.) 



ir) Flint. 



257. Large scraper, of rough workmanship, 2^ in. by 2| in. Found in the yellowish-brown 

 mould, actual depth unknown, but not exceeding 7 ft. below the surface of the silting. 



258. Implement, perhaps a scraper, having a prominent bulb of percussion. Depth 5 ft., in the 

 yellowish-brown mould. 



A calcined flint (small), found deep in the chalk rubble. 



V. Prehistoric Pottery. 



279. This, the last ' find ' made in the excavations, is in some ways the most 

 important, as it is the only occasion on which we have found fragnients of the 

 beaker or drinking-vessel type of prehistoric pottery in the fosse. There are 

 over a dozen unmistakable but small fragments (the largest 1 in. across) of 

 this ware, with typical notched patterns in chevrons, horizontal and vertical 

 lines, and with plain zones dividing the bands of ornament. The ware of fine 

 paste is for the most part reddish-brown on the outside and brown on the 

 interior surface, and it is probable that it belongs to more than one vessel. 

 Some of the pieces have scaled, but thosa that retain their full proportions vary 



