﻿Vol. 6 1.] OSSIFEROUS CAVERN AT LONOCLIFFE. 45 



There are several joints in the quarry which run in a north-north- 

 westerly and south-south-easterly direction. The cavern is evidently 

 a master-joint enlarged by the action of water. A joint, 5 feet to 

 the north-east of the cavern and farther back in the quarry, was 

 found after our first year's operations, but no bones were discovered 

 in the clay with which it was filled. 



III. The Method of Working the Deposits, and the Results 



OBTAINED. 



Before the cavern was discovered, various parts of the quarry, 

 including that in which the cavern was found, had been let on 

 'bargain' or piecework to the quarrymen. We had, therefore, to 

 carry on the excavations in such a manner as to fall in with these 

 arrangements, by first removing a portion of the deposit from the 

 cavern and then allowing the men to remove the cavern-wall up to 

 the point to which we had worked. Careful measurements were 

 made and levels obtained during the progress of the work, and such 

 bones from each layer or part of the cavern, -as it seemed neces- 

 sary at the time to keep separate, were packed in different boxes. 

 During 1902 we explored the upper part of the cavern, above the 

 line AB in the horizontal section (PI. V, fig. 1), and during 1903 

 the part below this line. 



Previous to our first visit to the cavern, the deposits had been 

 indiscriminately worked to a distance of 34 feet from the point 

 where the men first broke into it, and to a depth of about 9 feet 

 below the cavern-roof. The outer or south-western wall of the 

 cavern to this depth, and for a distance of about 27 feet, had also 

 been quarried away. At our first visit, therefore, the cavern- 

 entrance was 27 feet from the point where the men broke in, and 

 the deposit had been cleared away from what was then the inside 

 of the cavern for some 6| feet in a north-westerly direction. 



We commenced operations by fixing a wooden door (PI. VI, 

 fig. 1) at the entrance to keep out intruders, had the face of the 

 deposit cleared, and obtained the following section : — 



Section measured on May 13tii, 1902. 



6£ feet north-north-west of the wooden door, and above the line AB in 

 PI. V, fig. 1. 



Feet inches. 

 No. I. Layer of surface-soil, with angular fragments of 



limestone and few bones 6 



No. II. Yellowish sandy clay, showing traces of lamination 



and containing bones 2 



No. III. Breccia, rich in bones ; consisting of bones and 

 lumps of limestone, often cemented into a hard 

 mass, especially on the south-west side of the 



cavern ; softer on the north-west side 2 



No. IV. Clay, with large angular blocks of limestone and 



bones , 1 2 



No. V. Dark moist clay, with few bones; bottom not 



reached 1 



6" 8 



