20 Mr. H. C. Lau lor on 



investigation of the Cairn Grannia at Mallusk, I am of opinion 

 that the interment in this dolmen was one of incinerated remains 

 in the soil undei- the cromlech without an urn. In the Cairn 

 Grannia there are nine distinct crohilecha joined together in a 

 line, [n each one examined the burial was of incinerated remains 

 in the soil ; two urn burials were found, but they were evidently 

 of later date and not under distinct cromlechs. As I have 

 mentioned, the Giant's Ring cromlech is not in the geometrical 

 centre of the Giant's Ring, but some eight or ten yards to the 

 south-east of that point. We ascertained by accurate measure- 

 ments the exact centre of the ring, and sank a circular pit five 

 yards in diameter there. The hard till was 15 to 18 inches 

 beneath the surface, and this excavation was entirely negative in 

 results. We also dug several other pits where we thought slight 

 hollows or dry patches existed, but had no better results. 



Our original intention had been to continue the sinking of 

 these radiating trenches all the way round from the cromlech, 

 but as the results obtained in the excavations already made were 

 so completely negative, we decided to discontinue further ex- 

 cavations in this direction. In all we had excavated nearly 600 

 yards of trenches of an average dcjjth of about 18 inches down to 

 the undisturbed till. With the exception of the remains of a 

 small fire and a stone hammer lying a few feet north-east of the 

 cromlech, not a single thing was found in excavating outside the 

 cromlech to indicate that the site had ever been occupied in any 

 way by man. 



It may be urged that our actual excavations only covered, in 

 all, some 400 square yards out of a surface of some 10 acres, and 

 that we might easily have missed valuable discoveries ; which 

 may be perfectly true. 



The final excavation we made was to cut a trench two-thirds 

 across the mound itself down to the original ground level, some 

 1 5 feet in depth and 4 feet wide. 



The accompanying section of the mound, kindly prepared by 

 iyiessrs. Fennell & Clarke, admirably shows the dimensions. The 



