Excavation of a Roman Well near Silbury Hill. 167 



With the willing assistance of Mr. Arnold (the tenant), Mr. 

 Willis, Sen., and Mr. Willis, Jun., of Beckhampton, and Mr. 

 Brown, of Avebmy, we began work on the morning of July 14th, 

 1896, and by 6 o'clock that evening had excavated to the depth of 

 13ft. Almost from the beginning of the work " finds,' ' such as 

 fragments of Romano-British and other pottery and flint flakes, 

 were continually coming to hand. These were, however, un- 

 { doubtedly in the material used for filling up the well in recent 

 times. 



At about 6ft. from the surface the well assumed somewhat of an 

 oval form, and having by this time removed the greater part of 

 the material used to fill in the subsidence of recent years many 

 ij specimens of Roman and Romano-British pottery, both red and 

 I black, iron nails, local red ware, and oyster and snail shells were 

 found. 



At a distance of 8ft. from the top a small bronze finger ring was 

 j discovered, which was quickly followed by a small bronze " steel- 

 yard," one end of which is complete and the centre balance ring 

 and a remnant of bronze wire which supported the counterpoise 

 intact. Only one small coin of bronze was found during the day, 

 but another was discovered on the following day. These Sir John 

 Evans has kindly identified, stating them to be of Arcadius, 383 — 

 395 A.D., and Theodosius II., 408—450 A.D. 



During the next 3ft. nothing of importance was met with, but 

 at about 16ft. from the surface we found a beautiful specimen of a 

 red deer horn pick, and at about the same place several broken 

 fragments of deer antlers, but in too crushed a condition to allow 

 of any conjecture as to their having been utilised as picks. 



About the same time a curious piece of antler, about 6in. long, 

 tapering to a point, was discovered. This shows signs of having 

 been rubbed, pointed, or polished, and Mr. William Cunnington, 

 to whom it was shown, says " It is no doubt one of the crown tines 

 of red deer, but whether the smooth point is all man's work or 

 mostly done by the deer it is difficult to say. That it has been cut 

 by man is apparent. It could not have been used as a pick from 

 its position on the horn." 



VOL. XXIX. — NO. LXXXVII. N 



