Discoveries at a Village of the Stone Age. 1 3 
This gravelly stratum was found to form the boundary of a 
hut bottom, less than one-third of the length of the whole depression 
occupied by the row of hut bottoms, and which had a diameter of 
eight feet. Around the margin of this foundation there were 
imbedded stones of various sizes that appear to have been used 
as supports or wedges for poles of which the frame work of the 
hut was composed. No remains of these poles or of any wood 
work was discovered which could be referred to the time when 
this village site was occupied by an aboriginal people. 
There are two peculiarities in the foundation of this hut which 
would lead to the inference that the hut was conical. The first is 
the relation of the kitchen-midden to the gravel of the sleeping- 
bench. In making a trench through this hut-bottom, and others 
adjoining, sections of several layers of gravel marking such sleep- 
ing-benches were passed through at various depths in the deposit ; 
and in all, the outer edge of the gravel of the sleeping-bench was 
found to be overlapped by the shells of the kitchen-midden as 
though the shells had fallen in upon the gravel after the decay of 
the poles which had supported the walls of the hut. A second 
feature in the appearance of this foundation, which seemed to 
indicate a conical form to the dwelling, was the width between the 
ends of the gravelly layer of the sleeping-bench of hut-bottom 
A. If this space corresponds to the width of the doorway it 
would be quite out of proportion to the size of such a dwelling, 
unless the doorway was rapidly narrowed above by the conver- 
gence of the poles supporting the sides of the hut. 
The slovenly habits of the old Neolithic people who dwelt on 
the shores of the Bocabec were quite obvious, and certainly were 
favorable to the spread of disease among them. I have said that 
they underlaid their sleeping banks with gravel, and in this prac- 
tice shewed their appreciation of the comfort of a dry bed. This 
couch they no doubt made softer by covering it with boughs, and 
warmer by the added luxury of fur-skins. Nevertheless, in some 
respects they were exceeding slovenly. The ashes and charcoal 
of their fire-places gradually accumulated to such an extent that 
to level up the sides of their huts they brought in gravel and threw 
it on the trampled clam shells and other debris of their feasts that 
were scattered over the floor. They were too careless to clean 
