188 Correspondence — A. J. Jukes-Broicne. 



the top. At the bottom of the surface soil, exactly where the head 

 of the man in the white straw hat comes in fig. 1 of the report above 

 referred to, the workmen came upon the bones of a child about twelve 

 years of age. There was nothing, as far as I could ascertain or see, in 

 the appearance of the overlying soil to suggest an interment until the 

 bones were reached. There was, however, a small irregular depression 

 excavated in the top of the underlying chalky loam, and in this the 

 body lay as if it had been buried in a contracted position. The bones 

 were crushed and disturbed by the settling down of the overlying 

 earth during the decay of the soft parts, and were much decomposed, 

 but there was nothing obviously abnormal in them. In such cases we 

 have to remember that the surface soil is always on the move, and 

 that all traces of a grave or other pit quickly disappear in 

 a homogeneous superficial deposit. It is only where there are 

 stratified beds of sand or gravel and the continuity of the layers is 

 interrupted that the infilled grave or pit can be clearly seen in section. 



I once saw a remarkable case of the obliteration of the signs of 

 interment at Faversham in North Kent. Here an interesting 

 cemetery of Roman and Saxon age was entirely carried away in the 

 course of digging for brickearth. In the face of earth seen in section 

 at the time I refer to, the bones in the Saxon graves were exposed at 

 a depth of about 1| to 2 feet, and some 4 feet lower the Koman 

 skeletons were seen. 



In ordinary dry states of the weather the earth above the skeletons 

 showed no sign of having been moved, and there was nothing 

 obvious in its condition to indicate in either the one case or the 

 other that there had been any interment. The graves had been dug 

 in homogeneous yellowish-brown brickearth, and there were no lines 

 of stratification or stony beds cut across to betray the disturbance. 

 But the loosening of the earth had permitted a more free percolation 

 of surface-water in the graves, and had in this way produced a small 

 change in the texture of the loam, which was indicated in damp 

 weather by a slightly darker colour in the moved soil. 



In view of these facts I attach no importance to the absence of any 

 signs of disturbance in the soil above the skeleton at Barrington. 

 I believe that the Ipswich skeleton occurred under exactly similar 

 conditions. It showed, as I was informed, no signs of disturbance in 

 the earth above the bones, which were in a small irregular depression 

 in the underlying sand. This sand is that called by Searles Wood 

 ' Middle Glacial '. The earth above the skeleton was simply ' soil ', 

 'head', 'run of the hill', or 'trail', but there was, I feel sure from 

 what I saw, no Boulder-clay overlying the skeleton. 



T. McKenny Hughes. 



February 28, 1912. 



STEATIGRAPHICAL NAMES. 



Sir, — I think Dr. Bather has done well to call attention to the 

 growing necessity for some official control over geological nomenclature. 

 The introduction of a new name for any strati graphical unit ought to 

 be regarded as a serious matter, which cannot receive too much 



