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Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
erected upon them have occasionally been elucidated by the 
exposure of portions of undisturbed wood- work. On this point the 
recently excavated craiinog of Lochan Dughaill, in Argyllshire, 
has furnished evidence of an exceptionally interesting character, 
inasmuch as it conclusively proves that the house was circular and 
not, as in former instances, rectangular. 
Persons who have never taken part in the actual excavation of 
a crannog can hardly realize the fascination of this kind of work. 
Should the debris turn out to be rich in relics, even the most cynical 
visitors catch the enthusiasm and watch each turn of the spade 
with absorbing interest. Every inch of upturned stuff is carefully 
scanned, and the merest trifles showing workmanship are eagerly 
picked up. To genuine archaeologists the odds and ends of the 
kitchen -midden, such as food refuse, broken pottery, stray ornaments, 
worn-out implements and weapons, are veritable treasures. 
The earlier evidence adduced in support of the existence of lake- 
dwellings south of the Scottish border was, in most instances, too 
fragmentary to he of scientific value. Of this character were the 
structures in some of the Meres of Norfolk and Suffolk, described 
by Sir Chas. Bunhury, Professor Newton, and the Eev. Harry 
Jones : also the reputed pile-structure in Cold Ash Common, Berks, 
noticed by Dr S. Palmer. 
In 1866 General Pitt-Rivers communicated to the Anthro- 
pological Society of London a paper entitled “A Description of 
Certain Piles found near London Wall and Southwark, possibly the 
remains of Pile-Buildings.” The author commenced by observing 
that his attention was directed to the locality by a short paragraph 
in the Times of the 20th Oct., stating that upwards of twenty cart- 
loads of bones had been dug out of the excavations which were being 
made for the foundations of a wool warehouse. Here, in a bed of 
peat, seven to nine feet thick, intervening between the accumulated 
debris of modern London and a bed of gravel, the workmen came 
upon a number of wooden piles whose tips penetrated into the 
gravel. Scattered through this peat were numerous articles of 
human workmanship ; also several kitchen-middens containing the 
nondescript remains of human occupancy. The majority of the relics 
were of Roman origin, and included coins, tiles, pottery, and articles 
of dress. In addition to these there were others of ruder construe- 
