ARBOR LOW EXCAVATIONS IN 19OI AND 19O2. 59 



the photographs, plate IV. and plate VII. No doubt these 

 boulders had been loosened in the formation of the fosse 

 and utilised for the construction of the vallum. The crest 

 of the rampart here is about 4-7 feet (1-43 m.) above the 

 '■' old surface line " immediately below it. Chert and calcite 

 occurred in bands in the limestone strata in large quantities 

 here, and fluor-spar was detected by Professor Boyd Dawkins. 



Trenching near the Stones. 



These excavations were made with a view of ascertaining 

 whether holes existed in the limestone floor in which Stones 

 I., II., ill., and XXXVII. originally stood, but the results 

 could hardly be considered conclusive.* As stated before, the 

 various writers on Arbor Low disagree as to whether the stones 

 originally stood in an upright position, or whether they always 

 lay flat on the ground. 



A hole, 7 feet by 45 feet (2-13 m. by 1-37 m.), was made 

 to the east of, and close to, Stone XXXVII. There was a 

 well-marked depression in the turf here, and the stone has 

 a flat squared surface at this end. Just below the turf, depth 

 0-3 foot (9 cm.), a small fragment of Romano-British pottery- 

 was found (plan " 35 "), and a small discoidal flint scraper 

 in mould at a depth of 06 foot (18 cm.) ("34" on 

 plan, and plate VI., No. 34). A hole in the limestone 

 floor certainly existed close to the north-east of the stone, 

 of more or less oblong form, length 5-8 feet (1-79 m.), 

 maximum depth below surface 2-1 feet (64 cm.); it, however, 

 appeared to me to be merely one of the usual natural shallow 

 depressions in the limestone, and the excavation afforded no 

 evidence of a hole having been cut for the reception of the 

 base of a standing stone. Another hole 8 feet by 4I feet 

 (2-44 m. by 1.37 m.) was made at the north-west end of 

 Stone II. No evidence as regards the original position of 

 this stone, if it ever stood upright, was adduced from this 

 digging, and nothing was discovered but a flint flake (plan 

 "38''), depth 0-5 foot (15 cm.). 



* More lime could not be bestowed on this particular investigation. 



