in the Western Isles of Scotland. 167 



axe-head. This discovery is mentioned by Mr. Murray in the 

 appendix to Summer in the Hebrides, where he states that " both stone 

 and bronze celts have been found by the shore of Loch Fada in 

 Colonsay ", and adds that these may be seen in the Museum of the 

 Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh, marked A.F. 173 and D.A. 43. 

 To the discussion of the stone axe-head we will return later, and pass 

 on now to give some account of the researches of Mr. Symington 

 Grieve and the late William Galloway, the results of which were 

 published in the Journal of the Linnean Society in the year 1883. ' 

 These investigators made an exploration of the shell-mound or kitchen 

 midden of Caisteal-nan-Gillean in Oronsay. This mound was composed 

 largely of blown sand, but contained a stratum of shells having 

 a thickness of about 8 feet at the centre. Prom this were obtained 

 bones of the red deer, marten, otter, rat, pig, grey seal, common seal, 

 great auk, and guillemot, as well as the following traces of man : — 



1. Two bone harpoon-heads, one with opposite and the other with alternate 



barbs. 



2. A bone awl in a perfect state .and the point of another. 



3. A number of bones, partly of red deer, rubbed at one end so as to give an 



edge ; some of -these were rubbed flat on both sides, others only on one. 



4. Oblong water-worn stones of a slaty character, some with one end rubbed 



so as to form an edge. 



5. A few oval and nearly round stones that showed marks of having been 



used for striking. 



6. A few pieces of flint of small size and not obviously worked. 



7. Some large flat stones with charcoal and burnt material around them, 



evidently hearthstones. 



8. Some stone-heaters cracked by the action of fire. 



Of these relics of human occupation only the water-worn stones 

 (No. 4) call for further remark. They are merely elongated shingle 

 stones picked up on the beach, and vary from 2 or 3 inches to quite 

 a foot in length. The smaller ones, which were found near the 

 hearths, bear marks of having been rubbed at one end, but the larger, 

 which generally lay further out on the periphery of the mound, show, 

 with the exception of being occasionally fractured at the ends, no 

 trace of use. The employment among the islanders no very long 

 time ago of similar stones as hammers for knocking limpets off the 

 rocks suggested to Mr. Grieve a possible parallel use for those of the 

 mound. Whether the smaller stones, which are rubbed down to an 

 edge at one end, were employed for the same purpose as the larger 

 ones, it is hard to say. 



The deposits of the New Cave (TJamh Ur) on the south side of 

 Kiloran Bay have also been studied by Mr. Grieve, but were found to 

 be far less productive of objects of interest than the shell-mound 

 of Caisteal-nan-Gillean. The strata, which only locally cover the 

 shingle forming the floor of the cave, showed little variety throughout 

 their thickness of 2 or 3 feet. The stalagmite was confined to the 

 surface, and the deposit beneath consisted largely of charcoal and bones 

 with layers of burnt clay and stones cracked by the heat. Eemains of 



1 Symington Grieve, "Notice of the Discovery of Eemains of the Great Auk 

 or Garefowl {Alca impennis) on the Island of Oronsay, Argyllshire" : Journ. 

 Linn. Soc, Zoology, vol. xvi, p. 479, 1883. 



