42 



THE FOSSILIFEROUS DEPOSIT AT BIELSBECK, 

 EAST YORKS * 



As was intimated in our report for 1905, the work during- the 

 past year has been directed to the investigation of the deposit 

 at Bielsbeck, or Bealsbeck, in the Vale of York, which was 

 examined between seventy and eighty years ago by the Rev. 

 W. V. Harcourt, and yielded the remains of numerous extinct 

 mammals. The object of our investigation was mainly to 

 ascertain if any further evidence could be obtained to show the 

 relation of this fossiliferous deposit to the glacial drifts. 



The work, which was carried out under the superintendence 

 of Professor P. F. Kendall, Messrs. G. W. B. Macturk, Thomas 

 Sheppard, and the Secretary, confirmed the statements of the 

 previous observers : (i) that the deposits yielding the bones 

 rested immediately on the Keuper Marl ; (2) that they have 

 been accumulated in a boggy hollow on an old land surface ; 

 and (3) that at this particular locality there is no material that 

 can be assigned to the direct agency of ice. It therefore still 

 remains a debatable question whether the bone-bearing material 

 was accumulated before, during, or since the Glacial period ; 

 and it would appear that the elucidation of this matter will 

 depend upon the investigation of a wide area to determine what 

 was the condition of the Vale of York during that period. 



The absence of glacial deposits in this part of the country 

 may, on the one hand, imply that the area was never glaciated ; 

 or, on the other hand, it may mean that glacial deposits once 

 existing have been entirely removed, if the former be the case, 

 the bone-bearing deposits might belong to the pre-Glacial or to 

 any younger stage ; while if the latter supposition should find 

 confirmation, the deposit must be later than the glaciation. 



The site of the original excavation is still visible, the hollow 

 from which the ' marl ' was dug being now a reedy pond. The 

 new sections consisted of four pits sunk in the vicinity of the 

 pond. 



These pits were roughly from two to four yards square, and 



* Investig-ation of the Fossiliferous Drift Deposits at Kirmington 

 Lincolnshire, and at various localities in the East Riding- of Yorkshire. — 

 Report of the Committee of the British Association, consisting of Mr. G. W, 

 Lamplugh {Chairman), Mr. J. W. S\.2ither {Secretary), Dr. Tempest Anderson, 

 Professor J, W. Carr, Rev. W. Lower Carter, Dr. A. R. Dwerrvhouse, Mr. 

 F. \V. Harmer, Mr. J. H. Howarth, Rev. W. Johnson, Professor P. F. 

 Kendall, and Messrs. G. W. B. Macturk, E. T. Newton, H. M. Platnauer 

 Clement Reid, and Thomas Sheppard. (Drawn up by the Secretary). 



Naturalist. 



