1903 - 4 .] Date of Upheaval of Raised Beaches in Scotland. 243 
flat terrace, of varying width, with the old coast-line on the inland 
side, and a slope down to the sea on the other side. A similar 
formation was found in Scotland, but there the height was 
generally greater — about 25 feet. The Carse of Gowrie was an 
example. In the raised beach in the north of Ireland were found 
not only shells of the present period, but flint arrow heads and 
other articles made of flint. In Scotland there was stronger 
evidence of the date of formation. There had been found skeletons 
of whales, and canoes, some hollowed out of single trunks, but 
others clinker-built of sawn planks, with holes for riveting. Iron 
anchors and boat-hooks had also been found in the raised beach 
in Scotland. The raised beaches in Ireland and Scotland were a 
simultaneous formation, in his opinion. The iron implements were 
important in fixing the date. He should say that the beaches 
began to be formed about the fourth century a. d. His opinion 
was founded upon all the sources of information available 
It was a disputed question when the sea retired from these beaches. 
The flint implements dated from the Celtic era, which might be 
from the second century b.c. to the second century a.d.” 
Differing from Professor Hull with regard to some of the items 
in the above statement, more especially that the finding of cetaceous 
remains, canoes, iron anchors, etc., entitles him to fix the date of 
the upheaval to so recent an epoch as the fourth century a.d., I 
propose in this paper to reopen the former discussion on the sub- 
ject, though, to many it may seem to be slaying a dead animal. 
For this purpose it is necessary to go back to the early sixties of 
last century, when the post-Roman theory was first promulgated by 
Sir Archibald Geikie, whose researches were evidently th e fons et 
origo mali of the Professor’s statements. 
In his first published essay on the subject {Edinburgh New Phil. 
Journal , vol. xiv., 1861) Sir Archibald restricted the field of his 
Tesearches to the Firth of Forth. The principal evidence then 
adduced was the discovery by himself and Dr Young of small 
pieces of two kinds of pottery “ in a regularly stratified deposit” 
in the lower reaches of the Water of Leith, which they considered 
to be of Roman origin. In support of the validity of this argu- 
ment he writes : “ Since the examination of the sand-pit at 
Deith I have visited all the localities along the shore where 
