Br. R. F. Scharf, etc. — Exjiioration of Kesh Caves. 507 



a gallery branches off to the right, and this, after running some 

 twenty feet, expands into a lofty hall, the Sloping Chamber, that 

 has another branch to the left, parallel with the Plunkett Cave. 

 We called this latter branch the Water Gallery. 



At the commencement of the operations no part of these galleries 

 was completely choked, but all contained a considerable depth of 

 deposits, chiefly of earths and clays, with blocks and fragments of 

 limestone. 



The upper or surface stratum, which varied from six inches to two 

 feet in depth, contained a large amount of calcareous tufa, and as 

 we advanced into the inner galleries this tufa grew more and more 

 free from earthy admixture, being in places as white as mortar. 

 While a variable amount of calcium carbonate occurs in this deposit, 

 its whiteness is in part due to the usual residue of siliceous particles 

 that results from the removal of limestone in solution. Characteristic 

 bipyramidal crystals of quartz are thus found in some parts ; and in 

 the Water Gallery a delicately spicular deposit occurs. A multitude 

 of minute rods, sometimes set with knobs, are seen when the tufa 

 is dissolved away in acetic acid. Dr. G. J. Hinde, F.E.S., who has 

 kindly examined these for us, points out that they are crystalline 

 and soluble in nitric acid. Their true character is still under 

 consideration. In all parts of the cave explored by us this white 

 stratum contained charcoal, sometimes in lumps and occasionally 

 in horizontal layers, which formed distinct seams in our sections. 

 In the most remote part excavated by us, the Water Gallery, there 

 was a black layer of charcoal an inch deep, which extended from 

 wall to wall, with a bed of white tufa above and beneath it, and at 

 the bottom of the lower tufa there was more charcoal. Some pieces 

 of peat were also found embedded elsewhere, which were probably 

 brought into the cave for fuel. 



In the lower part of the upper stratum a large stone celt was 

 found five feet inside the cave's mouth, the only evidence of Neolithic 

 occupation, and not far from it was a portion of a small iron saw 

 of peculiar make, resembling those found in Dunshaughlin crannog, 

 and in the same vicinity a bronze pin with a ring attached to it. 

 The upper stratum contained a second bronze pin at thirty-eight 

 feet from the mouth of the cave, and further in again was a small 

 iron rod. Shells of marine Mussels repeatedly occurred in this 

 upper stratum and also an oyster-shell, though the sea is now fifteen 

 miles distant, and it is not likely to have been much nearer in 

 Neolithic times. 



The human remains were few, and occurred chiefly near the 

 Sloping Chamber ; but the bones and teeth of domestic animals 

 were exceedingly numerous, and were found wherever the stratum 

 extended. These were generally fragmentary and represented the 

 species usually found in Irish kitchen middens, viz., horse, red deer, 

 ox, sheep, goat, pig, and dog. 



Among the wild species represented in this upper stratum fox 

 and rabbit were numerous, hare and red deer less so ; but an 

 interesting find was a metatarsus of reindeer, which occurred in 



