﻿Vol. 6 1.] OSSIFEROUS CAVEKN AT LONGCLIFFE. 47 



Lower Level, below the line AB. (PI. Y, figs. 1 & 3.) 



In 1903, after the whole of the upper part of the cavern above 

 the line AB had been removed, we proceeded to work on the lower 

 level, between the lines AB and CD (PL V, fig. 1), commencing at the 

 south-south-eastern end. A number of bones were found under 

 the spot where the wooden door had been fixed in the previous year. 

 Although we could not definitely trace the connection, this deposit 

 seemed to be part of the upper layers Nos. I & V, if indeed it was not 

 really a part of No. Y. North-north-west of this point (below the 

 door) no bones were obtained, until we had worked 45 feet to the 

 north -north-west ; then a number were found in a clay (No. 11), 

 which was above another bedded clay (No. 12), dipping at a high 

 angle, underneath which was a well-bedded sand (No. 13), about 

 5 feet thick. Under this sand was a deposit of black ' wad' (No. 14). 

 This ' wad ' was worked down to a depth of about 15 feet, and was 

 found to rest upon a clay (No. 15). The other parts of the cavern 

 at the lower level, except those just mentioned, were filled with 

 clay and rubble, and contained no bones. Near No. 11, beneath 

 the bone-bearing beds, were found lumps of breccia with Helix - 

 shells, and also a number of concretions of magnesian limestone. 

 We believe that such concretions have never been found among the 

 dolomitized limestones of the district, and may therefore have come 

 from a distance. An examination of the horizontal section and the 

 two ground-plans (PL Y, figs. 1-3) shows that the cavern was about 

 120 feet long, and that at both ends it narrowed down to a vertical 

 joint at the level AB ; also, that at the south-south-eastern end this 

 narrowing continued at the lower level CD, but that the cavern did 

 not thin out so rapidly north-north-westward at the lower level as 

 it did at the higher one. In the wall of the fissure at the south- 

 south-eastern end of the lower level, about 6 feet north-north-west 

 of the place where the cavern was first broken into, fifty bones were 

 found, consisting mainly of rabbit, with only one bone of a carnivorous 

 animal, namely, Hycena. It is impossible to correlate these few bones 

 with those from the other layers, so we have placed them separately 

 in Table I, col. 10 (p. 58). The bottom of the cavern was reached 

 at the south- south-eastern end, but deepened north-north-westward 

 to an unknown extent. It was found possible, for economic reasons, 

 to trace the beds at the north-north-western end of the cavern 

 some 15 feet into the wad. But, as very few bones were found in 

 the layer between AB and CD, and none in the deeper excavations 

 at the north-north-western end, it was decided not to continue the 

 exploration any farther. 



Summary of Eesults. 



Although the rubble and clay in many parts of the cavern showed 

 no signs of stratification, there appear to have been three distinct 

 groups of deposits. The upper deposits, which include layers I to 9, 

 contained by far the majority of the bones. They were probably 



