436 PREHISTORIC EUROPE. 



accumulated, and Cyclas cornea abounded. As the mud-flats 

 continued to be deserted by the sea, trees again began to appear 

 — the vegetation gradually becoming more abundant, until at 

 length a dense forest-growth prevailed. The trees, which con- 

 sisted largely of oak and Scots fir, often attained great dimen- 

 sions, and there' are some indications which lead to the belief 

 that among the first to occupy the vacant ground was the 

 Scots fir. But however this may be, the whole of the low- 

 lands eventually became thickly wooded with a varied vegeta- 

 tion — amongst which, besides oak and Scots fir, were ash, 

 beech (?), alder, and yew. Eventually, however, another change 

 ensued ; the trees decayed, and the wide wooded plains became 

 converted into marshes. Peat now began to spread abundantly, 

 and by and by covered over the site of the old woodlands. The 

 surface of the peat seems to have been varied here and there 

 with shrubby growths of holly, hazel, and spurge, which flourished 

 then in the drier places, very much in the same way as willow 

 and spurge are growing in the district ' now. At the time the 

 great forests were flourishing the sea must have been at a 

 greater distance — in other words, the land must have extended 

 westwards considerably farther than at present into the Irish 

 Sea. The decay and overthrow of the trees and the growth of 

 peat appear to have been accompanied by a considerable loss of 

 land. The sea gained upon the coast, and here and there an 

 upper marine clay came to be laid down upon the surface of 

 the peat. 



Mr. de Eance observes that the oldest relics of man, which 

 consist of implements of Neolithic age, occur in the lower clay 

 and silt (No. 4). The same bed, according to Mr. Ecroyd Smith, 

 has yielded remains of the urus (Bos primigenius), the great 

 Irish deer (Cervus megaceros), and cetaceans. From the upper 

 peat and forest-bed have come Celtic and Eoman relics, the 

 former of which belong to the lower and the latter to the upper 

 portion of the bed. 



Briefly summing up the evidence, we seem justified in 

 coming to the following conclusions : — 



