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THE EXPLORATION OF CARN BREA. 



By THUESTAN 0. PETER, Member of the Council of the Royal Institution 

 of Cornwall. 



The surface of this fine Cornish hill* has been described by 

 Borlase, who found traces of Druids there (as everywhere else), 

 also by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, whose Essay on the Hill in the 

 Transactions of this Institution (1860) is well known to most of 

 us, and whose map of the hill is on the Museum Walls ; but it 

 was not till 1895 that the surface was broken by pick and 

 shovel with a view to finding what relics of antiquity lay beneath. 

 Had this been done before so much of the surface had been 

 destroyed by seekers for tin, the results would, doubtless, have 

 been even richer than they are. 



The exploration and excavations occupied from March to 

 October, 1895. About 100 diggings were made in different 

 parts of the hill, the majority on the summit at the eastern end. 

 This portion of the hill has been carefully planned, as we 

 proceeded, by Mr. Sampson Hill, of Eedruth, and photographs 

 of the various points of interest have been taken by Mr. J. C. 

 Burrow, of Camborne, and myself. I purpose, when I can find 

 leisure, to print copies of these photographs and insert them in 

 a volume, together with a written Diary of the Exploration, 

 which will, I think, be of value as a record for future reference 

 in the Eoyal Institution of Cornwall Library. The map, too, 

 will be handed to the Institution. 



It is also my pleasing duty to hand over to your Museum 

 (with the consent of Mr. Basset, by whose kind permission the 

 exploration was made), the collection of celts, flints, pottery, 

 and other " finds " brought by me from the hill. These are not 

 yet completely sorted, but I hand you to-dayf a considerable 

 number, and shall send others as and when I have the leisure 

 necessary for their arrangement, an operation that takes much 

 time owing to the necessity for washing, and to the quantity of 

 " waste " flints with which they are mixed. 



•* With coins, bronze celts, &c., found in it. 

 t26 Nov., 1895. 



