364 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— H. 



Zhob Valley, while other cases from Beluchistan resemble in many ways those from 

 Samarra. Thus there is a possibility that the civilisation of the Persian-Armenian 

 Highlands extended farther east. But in connection with Sumerian origins it should 

 be remembered that the Sumerians seem in Mesopotamia to use unpainted wares 

 throughout, and that at Mohenjo Daro also the unpainted wares are most common. 

 The painted pottery found in China can, with one exception, not be brought in 

 relation with either Asiatic or South Russian wares. The exception is formed by a 

 few sherds found at Sha Ching ; these seem to resemble wares found at various points 

 -within the province of the civilisation typical for the Persian-Armenian Highlands, 

 namely at Tepe Mohammed Djafiar, and at Urmya. The resemblance seems close 

 both as regards technique and style of decoration, and we may perhaps assume that 

 it spread with the knowledge of copper-working from a Transcaucasian centre. 



Followed by discussion. 



Dr. K. C. C. Clay. — The Overlap of the Bronze and Iron Ages. 



Recent excavation has shown that cinerary urns of the collared type were the 

 immediate predecessors of those of the barrel-bucket-globular types. It is 

 unquestionable that the latter were the products of invaders. The close similarity 

 in form and decoration between the barrel-bucket-globular types of cinerary urns 

 and the domestic vessels of the first part of the early Iron Age, also the products of 

 invaders, suggests that the two were contemporary — one the funereal and the other 

 the domestic ware of the same peoples. It is probable that in the south of Britain 

 the middle Bronze Age lasted up to the introduction of the knowledge of Iron. 



Mrs. M. E. Cunnington. — ' Woodhenge.' 



The excavations described were carried out by Mr. and Mrs. Cunnington on a 

 site in the parish of Durrington, Wilts. A photograph from the air taken in the 

 summer of 1926 revealed a series of pits enclosed within a circular bank and ditch. On 

 ■excavation these pits have proved to be arranged in a series of six concentric ovals, 

 and to have once held the bases of timber posts or uprights. The pits forming each 

 ring are fairly uniform in size, but they vary in each ring. Thus the outermost 

 ring consists of CO comparatively small holes ; the next of 32 uniformly larger 

 •ones ; the next of 16 still larger holes ; while the holes of the three inner rings 

 are more uniform in character and of a medium size. This difference in the size of the 

 holes clearly indicates that the uprights differed in size and character in each ring. 

 The evidence obtained that the uprights were of timber is believed to be quite definite. 

 The site represents a type of prehistoric monument that appears, so far as is known 

 at present, to be unique. The plan has certain analogies to that of Stonehenge, and 

 it can only be conjectured that this remarkable timber structure was designed for 

 ceremonial purposes of some kind. From bank to bank the outer enclosure is 250 ft. 

 in diameter. The site is a Httle less than two miles N.E. of Stonehenge. 



Afternoon. 



Prof. T. H. Bryce. — The Prehistory of Scotland and the Theory of the 

 Archaic Culture. 



The object of this paper is to examine briefly some points in the prehistory of 

 Scotland in relation to the propositions of the supporters of the theory of the archaic 

 culture. The points are the distribution of chambered cairns in relation to mineral 

 deposits, and to the known rites of ancient mining for gold, silver, and copper ; the 

 distribution of interments containing beakers and brachycephalic skulls in relation to 

 that of the chambered cairns ; the distribution of stone circles in Scotland and their 

 archaeological horizon ; the occurrence of terraces in south Scotland and the problems 

 they present ; dry-stone building in Scotland. 



Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S. — Geometrical Figures from Malekula and 

 Ambrym, Neiv Hebrides. 



These remarkable figures were discovered by Mr. A. B. Deacon last year. Mr. 

 Deacon was a brilliant young student of the University of Cambridge who, after 



