MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT PORT ERIN. 99 



pottery. In C were some fragments of pottery (at least 

 2 vessels) at the S.W. and N.E. corners, also a flint knife 

 and another arrow head. 



Tritaph VI. was also a perfect one, and cist A particu- 

 larly so. In it some flints and pottery were met with in 

 the N.W. corner, and in the centre was the hole excavated 

 under the floor which had evidently once contained an urn 

 and which is referred to above (fig. 11). In C some flints 

 and fragments of pottery were found between the entrance 

 pillars. This completes the circle. Between tritaphs VI. 

 and I. is a space of 18 feet which we tried carefully with 

 pick and spade and found nothing but soil and small 

 stones. It had evidently been left intentionally as the 

 northern opening of the circle, facing down the hill 

 towards Port Erin Bay and Bradda Head. 



With respect to the pottery, we found in all remains 

 of at least 2G vessels the appearance of which showed that 

 they had been used as cinerary urns, and along with them 

 the remains of ashes, charcoal and calcined bones. With 

 the exception of tritaph IV., which had been more dis- 

 turbed before our examination than any of the others, and 

 of II., from which, however, a perfect urn had been 

 formerly taken, we found some pottery in every tritaph, 

 but with two exceptions it was always in the tangential 

 cists. The urns numbered from 2 to 5 in a cist, but there 

 may have been more. From the fragmentary remains the 

 vessels seem to have been all between 9 and 12 inches high 

 and the outside diameter at the mouth varies from 8 to 11 

 inches. They show some diversity of shape, colour, lip, 

 and surface (Figs. 3-5 on fig. 11). About seven vessels 

 show traces of patterns. These are of the simplest kind, 

 consisting of lines impressed diagonally or perpendicularly 

 across the lips (Fig. 5 on fig. 11) and of lines diagonal, 

 horizontal and perpendicular either drawn with a pointed 



