190 RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN CORNWALL. 



But now I must proceed to describe some very distinct rock- 

 markings found in the neighbourhood of Newquay, on the 

 north coast of Cornwall. 



Col. Michell some time ago directed attention to them, and 

 Mr. Henry J. Martyn recently took me to see them ; some of 

 them are inaccessible, the others probably can be reached best 

 by climbing up the rocks from a boat, the steep descent to them 

 by land being highly dangerous. 



These rock -markings are numerous, most of them are on 

 the northern shore of the Grannel, exactly opposite Crantock, 

 which is on the other side of the water. Ancient mounds appear 

 on the heights immediately above them. 



The cuttings are shaped either as incised plain broad flat 

 rings, or as round flat-bottomed hollows, more or less deep. I 

 did not observe central dots, nor any concentric or other lines. 



The plain broad rings are similar to those of Scotland shewn 

 in figure 5, at page xvn of No. rv, Vol. I. of this Journal. Dr. 

 Simpson, of Edinburgh, wrote with regard to such marks that 

 they varied from a few inches to 3-feet across. 



The rings and hollows near Newquay are about from 15 to 

 20 inches in diameter. 



On some of the rocks, only one or two of them appear, 

 whilst not far off a group of about 30 or 40 may be seen, some 

 separate from the rest, but most of them in a confused and 

 overlapping cluster. 



It is much to be desired that a clue should be found to their 

 age and purpose. 



Some regard them as prehistoric, others as modern. Natives 

 and those long resident in the locality (including the oldest man, 

 who has been engaged from his youth in navigating the Grannel), 

 state that they have existed from time immemorial. 



It may tend to a solution of the mystery, if I describe their 

 position and character more in detail, and quote the theories 

 propounded to account for their formation : — 



The Gannel is a wide estuary filled with sand through which 

 runs a river, and along which the tide ebbs and flows. 



