328 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



To the,se measurements 4 ft. are automatically added to represent the depth of the 

 deposit of cave-earth below the base of the granular stalagmite removed by PengeUy 

 in 1866. 



The cave-earth is quite unstratified, and contains abundant anstular fragments of 

 limestone, and is, in places, crowded with large blocks fallen from the roof. Rolled 

 pebbles are rare, and of varieties of local stone from the neighbouring hills. 



The fauna, so far as it has been identified, is of the same character as that found 

 by Pengelly at higher levels, and no change has been noted, either in the fauna 

 or in the character of the cave-earth itself. (See tabular statement.) 



No hearths or workshops have been found, but, scattered here and there, some 135 

 flints have been recovered. Nearly all are patinated a somewhat dull white. A few have 

 a bluish -white appearance, and rare examples are blackened, probably by decaying 

 vegetation. Omitting waste fragments and small pieces of nuclei, about sixty flints 

 appear to have been implements or broken parts of such, and, with one or two excep- 

 tions, they seem to classify into no more than two types : A end-scrapers, and B 

 blades ; the latter amounting to about 80 per cent, of the total. These flints now 

 await expert examination at the hands of Prof. SoUas. 



Type A. These are ' end-scrapers ' of the usual type, with primary flaking along 

 the length of the implement, terminating at the broader end in steep, fanwise 

 retouches, producing a convex scraping edge. The reverse is a flake face, and the 

 implements seem to be in the Aurignacian tradition. 



Type B. ' Blades,' with primary flaking along the length of the implement, with 

 either two facets meeting in a carinated median line, or three facets, when the central 

 facet makes a flat ridge. There does not appear to be any retouch along the edges 

 of the blades, which are often equally sharp along each edge. Sometimes, however, 

 the edges are fractured, as if by use. The reverse is a flake face. 



It appears, therefore, that we have an industry running almost entirely to the pro- 

 duction of simple, unretouched blades. This description seems to apply, with almost 

 equal force, to the implements collected by PengeUy from the higher levels of the cave- 

 earth, and the Black Band. 



The absence of bone, horn, and ivory implements suggests that this industry is not 

 typical Magdalenian ; of Chatel-perron and Gravette points that it is not a true 

 Aurignacian ; of burins that it is neither Aurignacian nor Magdalenian. A few rare 

 specimens have been regarded as Solutrian, but these appear to be intrusions into a 

 culture of a ver}' different type. But the industry is certainly Upper Palaeolithic . 

 Pending the results of expert examination it is best, perhaps, to leave it at that. 



The period, in time, is limited, at its upper end, by the discoveries made by Pen- 

 gelly of harpoons of Magdalenian 5, 6, and 6 b respectively in the second and first 

 foot levels of the cave-earth, and in the Black Band. Below these levels, judging by 

 the fauna, the abundance of remains of the horse indicates a steppe climate suggestive 

 of the Aurignacian and Solutrian periods f Achen retreat of the ice) of S. France, but 

 reaching England somewhat later. If may therefore be that ' the knife-blade ' 

 industry of Kent's Hole was contemporary in time, however dissimilar in character, 

 with some part of the Solutrian and Magdalenian periods of the Dordogne. The study 

 of the fauna further suggests that the cave-earth was in process of formation at the 

 time when the upper part of the base level and the lower middle levels were being 

 laid down in Mother Grundy's Parlour at Creswell ; the upper middle level roughly 

 corresponding to the Black Band. The deposits recently examined at Aveline's Hole 

 in the Mendips seem to correspond to the granular stalagmite of Kent's Hole. 

 Although the Creswell flints are very different from ours, an expert comparison of the 

 material from all three caves seems desirable and might well lead to interesting 

 results. 



Sir Arthur Keith, F.R.S., reporting on a skull found in a crevice outside the Vesti- 

 bule last September, finds a close resemblance between the palate and teeth and those 

 of the human jaw found in the granular stalagmite in Kent's Hole. The skull is brachy- 

 cephalic, and compares closely with two brachycephalic skulls found at Aveline's 

 Hole, where, also, a good proportion of the flints seem to have been simple, unretouched 

 blades. 



We are happy to report that relations with Mr. Powe, the proprietor of the Cavern, 

 have been increasingly amicable ; that the total cost of the excavation to date has not 

 exceeded £15 ; and that it has been unnecessary, as yet, to apply for any portion of the 

 grants provided by the British Association and other learned societies. — F. Beynon, 

 Arthur H. Ogilvie, H. G. Dowie. 



