580 J. MAGENS HELLO ON THE BONE-CAVES OF CRESWELL CRAGS. 



principal caverns simultaneously : these are the Robin-Hood Cave, 

 and another, on the opposite side of the ravine, called the Church 

 Hole. 



A. The Robin-Hood Cave. 



At the beginning of the year a very considerable portion of the 

 Robin-Hood Cave remained, as will be seen in the ground-plan, 

 unexplored ; thoroughly and carefully to clear this out formed a 

 large part of our work. Great care has been taken to keep the 

 contents of the different beds separate, each bed having been worked 

 out, as far as possible, independently, and the earth riddled as it 

 was removed to the mouth of the cave ; the various objects found 

 each day were separately packed and labelled. We trusted that by 

 exercising this care we should be able to obtain as conclusive 

 evidence as might be possible as to the occupation of the caves by 

 man during the two stages of the Palaeolithic period already 

 alluded to. 



1. The Talus. — The work was commenced, on June 19th, by 

 cutting a trench through the talus outside the entrance of the 

 cavern (fig. 1.). At a depth of 3 feet, the unproductive white 

 calcareous sand with limestone blocks forming the lowest bed in 

 the interior was met with ; above this was a deposit of cave- 

 earth, 1 foot thick, in which, near the mouth of the cavern, were a 

 few flint chips, a fragment or two of worked flakes, and a few teeth and 

 a portion of the jaw of Cervus megaceros, together with two or three 

 teeth of Hyaena and Rhinoceros tichorhinus. Over the cave-earth 

 was an old floor full of bits of charcoal, with pieces of coarse Roman 

 earthenware in the lower part, and with more modern remains at 

 the top. In this floor a few small fragments of human bones and 

 some teeth occurred, as well as teeth of Sheep, Celtic Shorthorn, 

 Hare, and Water-vole, together with some small bird-bones. The 

 talus generally proved of very little interest ; and it was resolved to 

 proceed at once to the resumption of work in the interior. 



The distribution and order of the various beds as they occur in 

 this cavern will be best understood by comparing the sections taken 

 at different points in the cave (figs. 2-7). Where all the beds are 

 present they are at least five or six in number ; but it will be seen 

 that the whole series seldom, if ever, occurs at one spot. 



2. The Surface-soil. — Below the numerous blocks of limestone 

 which were plentifully spread over the floor, a thin surface-soil (1), 

 seldom exceeding six inches in thickness, extended over the greater 

 part of the cave. Just within a small square-cut entrance into 

 Chamber C (fig. 8), which is known as Robin Hood's Parlour, the 

 surface-soil was reddish with thin films of stalagmite enclosed in it 

 (fig. 3) ; usually this soil was of a dark drab colour. In this upper- 

 most bed in Chamber C an enamelled bronze fibula was found, very 

 similar in shape and condition to one from the Victoria Cave figured 

 by Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins in ' Cave-Hunting/ A small bronze 

 graving- tool, double-pointed at one end, was obtained from the 

 same bed ; also a rudely carved bone ornament with a triangular 



