22 Kennard 8f Warren — Blown Sands, etc., Towan Head. 



next group, is a compreliensive one, and does not necessarily imply 

 a forest growth. The woodland forms all require shade, moisture, 

 and a growth of herbage ; they could not exist on the sand dune& 

 at present. The sand dune group includes those species which 

 live there at the present day, and whose natural habitat it is ; 

 whilst the intermediate group comprises those species which can 

 accommodate themselves to the sand dunes, though their true 

 habitat is the same as that of the woodland group. 



On examining the table it will be noted that in the lowest beds,- 

 viz. the top of the Head, the woodland fauna is alone represented, 

 the true sand dune forms being absent. As we gradually go higher 

 the woodland forms die out, and they are replaced by the sand dune 

 group. It may therefore be inferred that the change in the conditions 

 was not a sudden one, but gradual, and one operating over some 

 considerable time. 



A similar phenomenon is seen at Harlyn Bay, where in the 

 Neolithic layer a woodland fauna is represented, which was sub- 

 sequently driven out by the blown sands. 



It is therefore evident that, at the time this woodland fauna 

 lived on the north coast of Cornwall, the sea must have been at 

 some considerable distance from the present shore. 



Details of the Sections. 



Taking now the sections seen on the cliffs on the west side of 

 Towan Head, and beginning at a point a little north of the lifeboat 

 house and working southward, the first point noticed was on the 

 northern side of a cutting that leads to the beach. Here there is^ 

 seen a very rubbly surface soil, beneath which there is about 2 feet 

 to 2 ft. 6 in. of rubbly sand, underlaid with Head ; while below, 

 among the rocks of the shore, may be seen remains of the con- 

 solidated blown sands of the Eaised Beach Series. In the rubbly 

 sand, and at a depth of about eighteen inches from the surface, 

 a fragment of pottery was found in situ. It is of the coarse, hand- 

 made type that is especially characteristic of the Neolithic period, 

 though whether it may belong to that period or not one cannot state 

 with certainty. For, though characteristic of Neolithic times, this 

 kind of pottery continued in use to a later date when better kinds 

 were also made. At this spot, and at the same depth as the pottery, 

 a few shells were collected. The list is placed in column A of the 

 table of fauna. In the same bed, but a short distance further to 

 the south, those given in column B were found. In the bottom 

 of the sand, just above the Head, and immediately below where 

 the pottery was found, there were those given in column C. 



In the top of the Head, a few yards further to the south (on the 

 other side of the cutting that leads to the beach), shells were very 

 abundant ; those that were collected are shown in column D. 

 These were the lowest in stratigraphical position of any shells 

 that were found. Many of them were firmly attached to the 

 angular fragments of rock which form so large a part of the Head. 



On the top of the Head, and beneath three or four feet of blown 



