DISCOVERIES AT A VILLAGE OF THE STOHE AGE. 7 
up than Phil’s Beach, and thus guarded the northern approach 
to the village. 
To the east of Phil's Beach a spring of cool water flows 
over a low cliff into the sea, and would have given an unfail- 
ing supply of this necessary liquid to the inhabitants of the 
village. In the swale (D) to the east of the village site, now 
cleared but then probably wooded, a further supply of water 
was available. 
Such was the general relation of the village of Phil's Beach 
to the surrounding country. A few words may be added as 
to the arrangement of the dwellings of which it was composed. 
On first surveying the ground, it was observed that the north 
side of the village site (C) was comparatively smooth, having 
been under cultivation since the arrival of the English, and no 
inequalities remained that would indicate where the dwellings 
of the ancient inhabitants had been. On this smooth ground 
we pitched our tents, and found it admirably adapted for our 
purpose, being well drained by the layers of shells beneath. 
Fully one-half of the site of the village, however, including the 
part on which the shells of the kitchen-midden were heaped 
together in the greatest quantities (0), had never been disturb- 
ed by the plow. Here the ground was covered with a growth 
of the Cow Parsnip ( Heracleum lanotum ), intermingled with 
other coarse weeds and grasses. This herbage extended to 
the extreme limits of the village site except, on the north, 
where the land had been brought under the plow. In the 
western part of the shell covered area, where the heaps of 
shells were most conspicuous, the presence of numerous sau- 
cer-shaped depressions indicated the positions of the huts of 
the aboriginal settlement. Over the greater portion of this 
uneven area no order or arrangement into regular streets could 
be observed. But near the sea beach, on the southern side of 
the village site, there was an approach to regularity in the 
position of the hut bottoms. The front row of huts (A,B,C, 
etc.) appears to have been the favourite section for dwellings. 
Not only were the foundations of the huts more closely set in 
this row, but the refuse heaps both before and behind them are 
larger than elsewhere. The huts of this row are very closely 
