4i 



&rfcov 3Loto Stone Circle, 

 ^xcabattons m 1901 autr 1902. 



By H. St. George Gray. 



The following is an abstract of a paper communicated to the 

 Society of Antiquaries by Mr. Gray, in April, 1903, and printed 

 in Archceologia, Vol. Iviii., pp. 461-498. By kind permission of the 

 Society liberal use has been made of Mr. Gray's paper, and the 

 proofs have been revised by him. We are further indebted to the 

 Society for the loan of most of the illustrations in Archozologia , but 

 the size of these pages has necessitated considerable reduction of the 

 plan. 



HESE excavations, organized by the Anthropological 

 Section of the British Association, and carried out in 

 1 901 and 1902, were conducted with a view of ascer- 

 taining the age of Stone Circles, a beginning, pos- 

 sibly, of a series of such explorations. The actual organization 

 and direction of the work in the field was placed in my hands. 

 The ground landlord, the Duke of Rutland, K.G., the First 

 Commissioner of Works (in whose charge, under the Ancient 

 Monuments Act, the Circle is placed), and the tenant, readily 

 gave their consent for the conducting of the exploration. 



In relation to Stone Circles generally, Arbor Low comes 

 under the heading of those consisting at present of separate 

 megaliths, which, whether single or multiple, are themselves 

 enclosed by an independent vallum and fosse. Other examples 

 are seen at Avebury, in Wilts ; at Blisland, in Cornwall, where 

 it has been recorded the fosse is n feet (3-35 m.) and the 



