By William Gowland, F.S.A., F.I.C. 



15 



to have a natural and not an artificially worked surface, and was 

 probably the result of a joint in the bed of rock of which the block 

 once formed a part. 



The underground face was found to be carefully tooled over its 

 entire surface, as shown in Fig. 13, which represents a part of a 

 large flake that became detached during the operation of raising 

 the stone. 



Excavation Q. — Figs. 2 and 8. 



This excavation was not made until No. V. was completed, but 

 it will be advantageous to consider it here, as it is so intimately 

 related to No. III., just described, both by position and its large 

 yield of stone implements, and more especially because they to- 

 gether opened up the original site of the base of the now recumbent 

 monolith, No. 55. 



The excavation was made entirely under the recumbent stone 

 55a. It extended from the block of sarsen exposed at the south- 

 east end of Excavation V. to a distance of 5 feet 6 inches to the 

 south-west, 5 feet to the south-east measured from the monolith, 

 and to a depth of 8 feet below the datum line. 



The recumbent stone was found to be resting about 3 or 4 inches 

 clear of the ground on the sarsen block above mentioned, and 

 another similar one beside it at one end, and on a pile of blocks 

 about 8 feet distant at the other. Several other blocks of the same 

 rock shown in Figs. 2 and 8 were also discovered. 



The chalk rock was reached at from 4 to 5 feet below the datum 

 line. Facing the south-east side of the monolith it had been cut 

 away so as to form a sloping wall, the base of which was 1 foot and 

 the upper edge about 2 feet distant from it. 



The recumbent stone, No. 55a, was found to be carefully tooled 

 over the whole of its under face. 



Near the middle there was a very distinct longitudinal rib similar 

 to those on the monolith, No. 59a, of the fallen trilithon, showing 

 the manner in which its surface had been trimmed. This face has 

 a slight but distinct curvature or entasis similar to that exhibited 

 by the sides of No. 56, the formerly " leaning stone." 



