35 



ijtk December, 1902. 



Mr. Robert Young, J.P., in the Chair. 



EVIDENCE OF THE CAVES, 

 By R. J. Ussher, J.P. 



{Abstract^ 



Kent's Cavern, in Devonshire, is very extensive, and contains 

 many chambers and passages. On the top of its deposits were 

 blocks and masses of limestone that had fallen from the roof, 

 and the uppermost deposit, a black mould, lay between these. 

 It was largely formed of leaves blown into the cave, and con- 

 tained miscellaneous relics, from the soda-water bottle of the 

 modern tourist to relics of mediaeval, Roman, and pre-Roman 

 times — bronze articles, spindle-whorls, broken pottery, including 

 Samian ware ; ancient bone implements, amber beads, and 

 charred wood ; also human bones, bones of brown bear, red 

 deer, and of domestic animals, such as dog, pig, ox, and sheep. 

 Beneath the black mould no remains of sheep occurred. None 

 of these relics carry us back beyond historic times. 



The second deposit was a floor of granular stalagmite varying 

 from a mere film to five feet in thickness. 



The third deposit was confined to one part of the cavern, 

 and was called the black band. It was composed of little bits 

 of charred wood, the hearthplace of the palaeolithic cave men. 

 Three hundred and sixty flint weapons or tools were found here, 



