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



11 



down to the chalk rock. The solid chalk was reached at about 

 3 feet below the datum line, except in the space left by the falling 

 of the monolith from its upright position. 



At a depth of 3 feet 4 inches the north-west side of the monolith 

 was seen to slope away sharply at an angle of about 43 degrees. 

 (Fig. 4.) Beneath this' sloping part two blocks of sarsen were 

 exposed, ,a small one which was removed, and a large one which 

 was subsequently found to extend right across the base, and to 

 have been placed there as a support for the monolith when it was 

 originally erected. 



Fig. 4. South-west side of the underground portion of the stone. 



The excavation was carried down to a depth of 7 feet, the lower 

 half being for the most part in the chalk rock. 

 The chief objects found were : — 



A Eoman coin, a sestertius of Commodus, 8 inches below the turf. 



A penny of George III., at the same depth. 



In Layer 5, Division CR, a flint hammerstone with edge. 



In Layer 5, Division DE, a splinter of deer's horn embedded in a lump of 

 chalk. This is of considerable importance as evidence of the use of deer's 

 horn picks for excavating the chalk. 



