2 
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 
Mooi River, between the river and the house of Mr. Piet Botha. At the- 
time of my visit the ground from which the skull-cap was unearthed had 
been dug over at least twice, so that it was difficult to determine exactly the 
original position of the fragment. Moreover, although further excavations 
were carried out, no bones were found in situ, the only pieces discovered 
being fragmentary parts of a femur which were scattered through the upper 
18 inches of re-interred debris. As far as I could discover, however, the 
skull-cap was found at an approximate depth of 4 feet 6 inches below the 
level of the ground, but no direct evidence was forthcoming to show whether 
the remains had been interred by human agency or naturally — i. e., whether 
or not the body had lain in a grave. 
The spot from which the skull came lies 242 feet from the river bank^ 
measured at right angles to the bank. The level of the surface above it 
stands 10 feet 9 inches above the present bank of the river, and 16 feet 
9 inches above the bed at the middle of the stream. The flood-plain of 
the river rises 6 feet in 54 feet, and then slopes more gradually upwards ta 
the spot where the remains were unearthed. 
Excavations were carried on to a depth of nearly 8 feet over an area of 
about 25 square yards around the sj^ot which was pointed out as being- 
directly over the original position of the skull-cap. In the centre of this 
area previous excavations and infillings had caused an intermingling of the 
soil and subsoil, in which mixture — as stated above — the fragmentary 
femoral remains were discovered. . An undisturbed section showed : Soil,. 
1 ft.; subsoil, 4 ft. 3 in.; breccia ("ouklip"), 2 ft. 9in., as far as the 
section was taken. 
The soil was a fairly dark rich soil which had been cultivated for a 
number of years. It gradually gave place to the subsoil which, in turn, 
graduated into the lateritic " ouklip " breccia. The subsoil contained in its- 
upper part a few scattered irregular lumps of breccia, but as it was traced 
downwards these masses became more plentiful until ultimately the loose 
material was replaced entirely by a stiff breccia. At the 4 ft. 6 in. level the 
lumps of breccia were fairly plentiful, and the whole of the front of the 
skull-cap, most of one side, and all the inner surface were encased in a. 
matrix of this material. 
The lateritic breccia consists of small pebbles and pellets of chert and 
sandstone set in a ferruginous and occasionally siliceous matrix, with here 
and there a few small, irregular, drusy cavities. The thickness of this laterite 
is not known, as excavations in it could not be conducted to a greater total 
depth than 8 feet, owing to the flooding of the hole by underground water. 
At a depth of 5 feet one or two larger fragments of sandstone with 
angular borders were found partially encased in laterite, and have been sub- 
mitted to Dr. Peringuey for an opinion as to their possible shaping by 
human agency. 
