Hardman — On two new Deposits of Hit man Bones. 171 



in which this stratified deposit dips away from where it and the roof 

 come together, there can be no doubt it has been introduced through 

 an old opening or fissure which formerly existed here. It, with the 

 included bones, could not by any possibility have been brought in by a 

 stream or flood of winter rain-water, from the other parts of the Cave — 

 as Dr. Poot suggests,'* — for the stratification should run the other way, 

 in that case, and the Cave should be nearly filled with water before a 

 stream of any size could commence to flow in this direction. 



The bones which we obtained from this locality are, without ex- 

 ception, human, and are mostly in a fragmentary condition, owing in 

 great measure to the disturbance which the soil has already undergone. 

 They comprise fragments of cranium, lower jaw, with teeth, vertebrae, 

 humerus, fibula, ribs, patella, os calcis, &c., and niimerous phalanges, 

 which seem to be most abundant. It is sufficient to mention the fact 

 of all these being human, however, for Dr. Foot, in the valuable paper 

 cited, gives a complete list of all the bones he obtained, numbering 

 113 specimens. Our collection from this place numbers about 70, but 

 some of these may be only different parts of the same bone. Yet, it 

 shows what a quantity of human remains lie here. One fact worth 

 notice is, that a pre-molar tooth is ground down to a fiat surface, indica- 

 tive of the owner having fed on grain, which had been ground up in 

 some such rude implement as a quern, and thus plentifully mixed with 

 sand. Tliis would seem to point to an earlier period than the tenth 

 century, when the Irish people were in a fair state of civilisation. I 

 am informed by Eev. Mr. Graves, and also by Professor A. Leith 

 Adams, F. R. S., that such teeth are not uncommon in the ancient 

 Cairn-tombs or Kistvaens ; but I am not aware if they have been 

 observed in more modern cases, except perhaps in those of some 

 ancient Egyptian skulls. 



Another point must not be passed over, viz., the finding of bones 

 in the silt itself, and under the stalagmite covering it. A rib of a 

 young infant was found by us in the layers of sand six inches under 

 stalagmite, and near the old opening, and consequently at a higher 

 level in the Cave than the main deposit. Then in bed (8), which 

 comes about three feet beneath the stalagmite, several fragments were 

 found in a stratified layer, which appear to be the earthy remains of 

 bone, from which all organic matter has been extracted. Professors 

 Macalister and A. Leith Adams, who kindly examined my specimens, 

 agree with me that some at least of these are bone. 



I shall now refer to the new deposits discovered by us near the 

 "Market Cross," at quite the other extremity of the Cavern, and some 

 600 feet distant from the last. (See plan, Plate 18, fig. 1, b.) These 

 occur in precisely the same way ; that is, at the base of, and inter- 

 stratified with, sUt, clay, and sand, which have come in through old 

 openings, now entii'ely closed up. 



Op. eit., p. 76. 



