126 Notes on a Late Celtic Rubbish Heap near Oare. 



Under the fringe of the mound on the side farthest away from 

 the Camp the undisturbed ground was not reached, as there was 

 found to be a drop below the natural level into a filled-in ditch or 

 excavation of some kind. This ditch, if such it be, may be con- 

 nected with a dwelling which the presence of the rubbish heap 

 shows must once have stood near this spot. It was a temptation 

 to follow out this excavation on the chance of locating the site of 

 the dwelling, but it was thought wiser not to embark on an under- 

 taking that would probably prove too extensive to be carried to 

 anything like a satisfactory finish. At present the copse is a thick 

 tangle of hazel bushes and undergrowth, which makes digging 

 difficult, and also renders it impossible to detect surface inequali- 

 ties that might otherwise show where the foundations, if any, are 

 likely to be. 



Bones of animals and a great quantity of potsherds were found 

 scattered all through the heap, but they were noticeably more 

 numerous near the surface and just under the turf. This accumu- 

 lation near the surface is no doubt due to a simple and natural 

 process of denudation. As the mass of decaying matter settled 

 down the fine mould would be washed through the comparatively 

 large and indestructible pieces of bone and pottery, and thus these 

 would in time get accumulated in a layer or seam of no great 

 thickness, and not very much above the level of the original floor 

 of the heap. The same kind of action may be noticed on ploughed 

 land. It is nearly useless to walk over a quite newly tilled field 

 in search of surface relics, but after the ground has been left open 

 for a few weeks or months it will be found that the loose soil has 

 been washed down leaving the stones and other hard objects bare 

 on the surface. 



On account of the large quantity of potsherds it has been 

 suggested that the mound was the accumulated debris of a pottery ; 

 but there is really no evidence of this being so. None of the 

 pottery shows any signs of distortion in the baking such as wasters 

 from a kiln would show ; nor were any objects found that are 

 particularly likely to have been used by a potter. The large 

 number of fragmentary bones of animals, of which sheep, pig, and ox 



