ON NOTES AND QUERIES ON ANTHROPOLOGY— KENT'S CAVERN. 267 



In the course of deepening the deposit in the ' Bear's Den,' in order to give head- 

 room for the passage under an archvvaj', the proprietor of the cavern reached the base 

 of the concreted ' breccia,' and revealed below it a fine silt apparently identical with 

 the silt at the base of the deposits in the ' Gallery,' referred to in the Committee's 

 report for 1928. A sample of this deposit led to the discovery of a bone, probably 

 of fox. 



It is intended to deepen the trench throughout the ' Wolf's Cave ' and the 

 ' Sloping Chamber,' from end to end, during next season's work. — (Signed) F. Beynon. 

 A. H. Ogilvie. 



The Committee asks to be re-appointed with a grant of £10 to meet the cost of 

 unskilled labour for removing debris after examination. 



Sumerian Copper. — Reports of Committee (Mr. H. J. E. Peake, 

 Chairman ; Mr. G. A. Garfitt, Secretary ; Mr. H. J. Balfour, 

 Mr. L. H. Dudley-Buxton, Prof. Gordon Childe, Prof. C. H. Desch, 

 Prof. H. J. Fleure, Prof. S. Langdon, Mr. E. Mackay, Sir Flinders 

 Petrie, Mr. C. Leonard Woolley) appointed to report on the probable 

 source of the supply of copper used by the Sumerians. 



(By Prof. C. H. Desch, F.R.S., University of Sheffield.) 



Third Interim Report. 



The grant from the Association has made it possible to continue the employment 

 of Mr. E. S. Carey during a part of the session, and many specimens have been 

 analysed. Further, the writer has been engaged on a metallographic examination 

 of such specimens as consist largely of uncorroded metal, with a view to determining 

 the nature of the metallurgical processes employed in their production, and also of 

 corroded specimens, as part of a study of the process of corrosion in the soil. This 

 question is of some archseological importance, as it may happen that one constituent 

 of an alloy is removed by corrosion more rapidly than another, so that the analysis 

 of a highly corroded object may not give the same ratio of constituents as the original 

 alloy. These investigations will be reported on separately. In the analyses which 

 follow, the composition of highly corroded objects has been calculated back to the 

 unoxidised metal. 



Some fragments from El Obeid were received from the British Museum, described 

 as probably of the first dynasty, but not earlier. A nail and a lion fragment proved 

 to be of practically pure copper, with no tin, the nickel content being 0-109 per cent, 

 and trace respectivelj'. A plate from the same source, but probably of later date, 

 contained 7-95 per cent, of tin and a trace of lead, but was free from nickel. 



The following specimens from Ur were received from Mr. Woolley, being of the 

 first dynasty date or earlier. 



Spear. U 11,886 . 

 Axe. No number . 

 . Nail with hole. U 12,229 

 Rim of bowl. No number 

 ?Nail. U 12,672 . 

 Knife. U 11,436 (Sargonid period) . 

 Bowl. No number. (Date uncertain) 



A further consignment consisted of five numbered 

 Museum. 



1. Plates and nail. Sumerian. (Hall) 



2. Pot and lamp. Sumerian. (Woolley) . 



3. Trowel. Sumerian. (Woolley) . 



4. Bowl. Possibly Sumerian. (Woolley) 



5. Fragments. Probably post-Sumerian. (W.). 



