626 Heporfs and Proceedings — Hev. E Jones-^Elholton Cave. 



entrance to the cave is through a shaft or pot-hole 20 feet in depth 

 situated at the foot of a small limestone scar on Elbolton, 1000 feet 

 above sea-level. The chamber, before the exploration commenced, 

 was 30 feet long, and varied from 7 to 13 feet in width. The floor 

 was fairly level, with the exception of a heap of stones under the 

 entrance. On the surface nothing was observed but a few sheep 

 bones of recent origin. The upper stratum, which varied in thick- 

 ness from 4 feet at the east to 17 feet at the west end of the 

 chamber, is the only one wherein human remains have yet been 

 found. It consisted of loose angular fragments of limestone inter- 

 spersed with large quantities of bones of the Celtic Shorthorn, the 

 Horse, the Boar, Dog, Red Deer, Sheep, etc. The bones of the 

 larger animals were split and broken, and were evidently used as 

 food. Burnt bones and charcoal were found in three places. Three 

 human skeletons were discovered buried with the legs bent and the 

 knees close to the skull. The other human bones were more or less 

 scattered. Most of the skulls were shattered, though two, obtained 

 from the east end, are fairly preserved, and are good typical speci- 

 mens of the long head type. But the human remains obtained from 

 the other end of the chamber and at a much lower level, 13 and 15 

 feet below the floor (one lying but a few inches above the clay 

 containing the bones of the Bear and Reindeer), are not dolichoce- 

 phalic but brachycephalic. The latter are more decayed th^n the 

 others. Associated with the round head was pottery of ditFerent 

 character to that which was found in other parts of the cave. It is 

 thicker, ruder, and with a different ornamentation. The pottery 

 found near the long-headed men was marked with straight lines, 

 in some cases cutting one another and forming a diamond-shaped 

 ornamentation, in others going in and out without intersecting, 

 forming a 'herring-bone' pattern. Others had impressions made 

 by some rounded bone tool. But the pottery found near the remains 

 of the round head is ornamented with wedged-shaped characters 

 made with an angular tool. Both kinds of pottery were made 

 from clay similar to that found in the cave, and both kinds were 

 hand -fashioned without wheel, and charred and burned from the 

 inside. No flints or metal of any kind have been found in the cave. 

 The only objects obtained have been bone pins and a few other 

 worked bones. 



From the position where this brachycephalic skull was found, and 

 from the ruder kind of pottery associated with it, it would appear 

 that in Craven a round-headed race preceded the long-headed one. 



Nearly all of the upper stratum containing human remains had 

 been cleared away before Avigust last, and the next layer had been 

 worked for some distance, especially in the second shaft at the west 

 end of the chamber. So far this lower stratum was composed of stiff 

 clay, with angular fragments of limestone, and at times a thin bed 

 of stalagmite. No human remains nor any of the animals associated 

 with them have been found. These are replaced mainly by Bears, 

 both Ursns ferox and Ursus arctos, and great numbers of Alpine 

 Hares and Foxes. The bones in this layer show no evidence of 



