76 
tion of the conditions under wliich they were found. To pass 
over those which have been buried, the number which I 
have examined is considerably over one hundred, belonging 
to the three types mentioned above. 
The rock where the tools were met with was hollowed 
out irregularly and evidently artificially, and to a depth in 
some cases of from 8 to 11 feet from the surface. And 
from an examination of the ground it was perfectly obvious 
that the ancient users of these tools had worked the 
metalliferous portions from above, without attempting to 
make galleries. The tools lay buried in the debris which 
had been thrown into the old surface workings after they 
had been discontinued, and which presented all the char- 
acters of “a wheelbarrow formation,” and were found in the 
greatest abundance near the bottom. 
Comparison of Stone Hammers with those of other 
Districts. 
Stone hammers of the kind mentioned above, and 
especially of the simple grooved class, are very widely 
distributed. They have been found equally in the ancient 
copper mines of Anglesea, of Spain and Portugal, and of 
Lake Superior. With these also the Egyptians worked the 
turquoise mines of Wady Magarah, in the Sinaitic penin- 
sula. They undoubtedly represent one of the ruder and 
probably earlier stages in the art of mining. With the 
solitary exception offered by the turquoise mines at 
Magarah, they have only been discovered in old copper 
workings, and they may therefore be inferred to have been 
used in ancient times mainly for the extraction of that 
metal. 
No Direct Evidence as to Date, 
I will not venture to attempt to assign a date to the 
mining operations carried on at Alderley, when these imple- 
