Mounds at St. Andrews. 323 



stones and gravel were cracked and run together by the heat, 

 and of a somewhat darker colour than the rest of the bed : when 

 struck by the workmen's tools it rose in concrete masses.- The 

 shells most abundant at both places, more especially at the former, 

 were the Mussel (Mytilus edulis), the Cockle (Cardium edule), 

 two species of Periwinkle [Littorina littorea and littoralis), and 

 the Limpet {Patella vulgata). Besides these, there were a few 

 specimens of Nassa reticulata, Buccinum undatum, Venus striatula, 

 and Venus casina. The Buccina were in general broken ; and 

 from the numerous fragments of the periwinkles, it would appear 

 that a similar mode of treatment had been frequently applied to 

 that shell. This may have been considered the most expeditious 

 way of getting at the contents. The mussels were very friable, 

 and ofteu went to pieces on being raised ; the rest of the bivalves 

 were in good order. The mammalian bones comprise two species 

 of the Ox, the Horse, Pig, Sheep, Goat, Dog, Fox, Cat, and the 

 Deer. There were two or three pieces of the limb -bones of birds. 

 Of the bones of fishes, although I diligently searched for them, 

 I could find only two centra of vertebrae. Of the bones of these 

 animals, those of the small Ox (Bos longifrons) were by far the 

 most abundant ; and although the bones of the large Ox, which 

 from the horn-cores I take to be Bos frontosus, were not nearly 

 so numerous as those of its smaller congener, still, so far as they 

 go, it was mainly the same parts that have been preserved of 

 both. These consist of the horn-cores, some of them broken off 

 at the base ; others have part of the bones of the skull attached, 

 and look as if the cranium had been rudely torn asunder. In 

 one instance the horn-cores of the small Ox are held together by 

 the intervening part of the skull, which has been broken away in 

 front and behind to nearly a line with their base. There were 

 also parts of the upper and lower jaws, chiefly of the small Ox, 

 some of them containing the teeth in situ. The only other por- 

 tions of the craninm preserved were one or two fragments of the 

 bony ring that surround the eye. The vertebra? had likewise 

 disappeared, with the exception of one or two of the cervicals. 

 Of the limb-bones there were pieces of the tibia, the radius, and 

 ulna, the metacarpus, metatarsus, os calcis, astragalus, and some 

 of the phalanges, including the os pedis. There were only one 

 or two pieces of the humerus, and one or two pieces of the femur ; 

 in both it was the lower joint. Moreover, although the distal 

 end of the tibia was common enough, the proximal end seemed 

 to be altogether absent. The scarcity of the upper bones of the 

 limbs, compared with the numerous fragments of the lower, was 

 not a little curious, more especially when we bear in mind that, 

 in this respect at least, the mound in question corresponds closely 

 with Danish kitchen-middens and the lake-dwellings of Switzer- 



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