434 Proceedi)igs of the Royal Irish Academij. 



that were probably tbe centres of hut sites. Around such places several 

 species of shell fish, broken and split bones of different kinds of 

 mammalia, together with the hammer-stones, flakes, and implements of 

 coarse rock, were spread out to view. Where any of the original 

 surface remained intact, especially if near a hut site, it generally yielded 

 similar remains on being excavated. "Where we found a good site from 

 which the sandy covering had not been long removed and from which 

 the remains had not been collected, it was a most instructive sight, 

 as we could see the hammer-stones just as they had been last used 

 by their prehistoric owners, the flakes lying probably on the spots 

 where they had fallen when struck off, or where they had been laid 

 down after being used ; and amongst these objects broken and split bones 

 and small heaps of shell fish, the remains of their meals, were also 

 visible. Disappointment was expressed by some that fiint was not 

 found, but Connemara is so far removed from the flint producing rocks 

 of the North that it could scarcely be expected to be found here unless 

 there had been commercial intercourse with the North in prehistoric 

 times, which is not likely to have existed, as such intercourse does not 

 seem to have taken place at these times even among neighbouring 

 tribes. The settlements in Connemara appear to be no exception to 

 the rule observed in other places of the same kind, in different parts of 

 the coast of Ireland, that the cutting tools and implements of the people 

 are made solely from the rocks found in their own neighbourhood. Some 

 of the bammer-stones and cutting instruments found at Dog's Bay are 

 shown on p. 435. A hammer-stone and rubber combined is shown in 

 fig. 1. The part shown uppermost in the figure has the usual abraded 

 end of hammer-stones, while the lower end is smoothed as if it had been 

 employed in grinding or rubbing. The material has a grain like 

 quartzite, though of a darkish colour. Two views are shown in figs. 

 2 and la of a well marked hammer-stone made from a granite pebble. 

 The abraded end is well marked and has a ridge in the centre as is seen 

 in the side view (fig. 2«), showing that each side of the implement 

 must have been alternately inclined in an oblique direction when 

 striking. This is a characteristic of mauy hammer-stones not only of 

 Neolithic stations but of those of Palaeolithic age, especially of the 

 rock shelters of the South of France. A good number of pebbles, like 

 fig. 3j were found not only here, but at all the stations examined. 

 A flake has been struck off the broad end of the pebble in an oblique 

 direction so as to leave a sharp, axe-like edge. This edge, which is 

 shown on the lower end of the figure, is slightly indented as if injured 

 in the process of hacking or cutting. Such objects have a certain 



