Vol. 60.] PALAEOLITHIC 1'LOOR AT PBAH SANDS. l n 7 



sinks to mean-tide level on the foreshore ; and at 70 yards from 

 the elvan it is lost under recent beach, or has sunk beneath the 

 sea : it has also a slight seaward tilt. Bedded ferruginous sand, 

 with well-worn pebbles and large rounded boulders, can be seen a*", 

 various points to rest upon this rocky platform and to rise to about 

 high-water mark ; these deposits, however, do not directly concern 

 us, and need not here be more fully described. 



The strata to which we wish particularly to draw attention are 

 those now visible at the foot of the cliff, where they rest upon the 

 ancient marine deposits, and are clearly seen to pass under a great 

 thickness of rubble-drift or • head.' Perhaps the clearest way to 

 show their relation is to give detailed measurements at a point 

 where the cliff is nearly vertical and free from talus, and where 

 the recent beach opposite has been swept away, so as to lay bare 

 part of the foreshore. Such a section Avas measured at about 150 

 yards east of the elvan : — 



Thickness in feet. 



Soii 3 



' Head ' or coarse angular rubble of local rocks (elvan, slate, ] «q 



and some greenstone) j " 



Loamy ' bead,' mainly consisting of vein-quartz 1*2 



Black loam, with fragments of charcoal, burnt bone, audi >, 



burnt earth J 2 



Grey sandy loam, with small st.cnes and traces of roots ] « 



throughout j 



Clean grey sand (marine) 1 



Ferruginous gravelly beach OA 



At this point the rocky platform could not be reached, the lowest 

 bed seen only lying a foot or two below high-water mark. 



It will be noticed that in the section just described, the marine 

 beds are succeeded by a few feet of sandy loam or brickearth. This 

 loam is traceable for about 200 yards, and is seen wherever the foot 

 of the cliff is free from talus. In part it may be only worked-up 

 material formed from the marine strata below ; but, in the main, it 

 seems to be an ordinary soil washed from the slopes above, for it is 

 full of small chips of vein-quartz, though larger stones are un- 

 common. Towards the ancient buried cliff which formerly bounded 

 the old bay on the west, the loam becomes more stony and like the 

 * head ' above ; but unfortunately that part of the section was some- 

 what obscured by landslips, and we could not ascertain exactly 

 where the change occurs. 



Careful examination shows that the loam was at one time a true 

 land-surface, for it is full of small vertical roots. Unfortunately, 

 these are preserved only as ochrcous casts, too much decayed for 

 miroscopic examination. Towards the top of the loam occurs a black 

 seam, usually about 6* inches thick. At first this was thought to be 

 peaty ; but on washing a quantity of the material, we could find no 

 trace of seeds or other fossils. We found, however, that the black 

 colour was due to abundance of small fragments of charcoal, mixed 

 with small splinters of carbonized 'bone, and fragments of burnt 



