318 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
It has been fashioned out of the piece of black 
crystalline limestone, a compact, close textured 
variety of the Lower Coralline Limestone, (1) out 
of which the numerous boulders and blocks of the 
Benhisa Gap have been formed. 'With the except- 
ion of occasional flint and chert nodules which 
are found in a zone of limited area (div. c. d.) in 
the Globigerina Limestone, this black limestone is 
the heaviest, aud most compact of the Maltese 
rocks. The localities in which the flint and chert 
nodules occur are comparatively few and are 
widely scattered over the islands (2); besides which 
there are few natural exposures of the zone within 
a radius of eight miles of the Har Dalam district, 
and in those that do occur I have failed to find any 
siliceous substances other than of microscopic 
size. The preference, therefore, which was given 
to the more prevelent black rock for the purpose 
of fashioning the implement admits of a ready 
explanation. 
The top or shorter faces of the specimen is very 
irregular in outline, one of the faces having been 
roughly chipped into shape; but the other 
faces are comparatively smooth, and exhibit traces 
of having been rubbed down to their present form. 
The cutting edge -which has thus been formed is 
very sharp; but it has been slightly fractured in 
two or the three places. 
On the exterior surfaces of the implement there 
are several small incrustations of carbonate of lime 
the greater portion of which is found in and around 
the corners and other inequalities of thefractures.(3) 
The fragments of pottery which were found in 
the same layer were very coarse in their texture 
and composition. The material is of a very rude 
description, the interior between the inner and 
outer surfaces being quite black and unset; while 
the surfaces themselves are very coarse and rough. 
(1) Cooke J. II. “On the occurrence of a black 
limestone in the strata of the Maltese Islands” 
Geol. Mag. No. 338, p. SGI , Aug 1892. 
(2) Cooke J. H. “On the occurrence of flint and 
chert concretions in the Maltese strata.” Geol. Mag. 
Mar. 1893 
(3) The Hon. John Worthington, Consul for the 
United States, was present at the time that it was 
found and assisted me in taking notes of the con- 
ditions of its occurrence; and upon another occasion 
H. S. H. Princess Victoria of Battenberg obtained 
several pieces of coarse pottery from the same ho- 
rizon in Trench I. 
It differs in every respect from that of which the 
potsherds are made which are found in the super- 
ficial layer near the cave entrance, and with the 
Phoenician and Punic ware which abounds in the 
rock-tombs of the islands. 
The broken state and shapeless form- of these 
fragments afford us little or no information as to 
the social condition of the people who manufactur- 
ed them, but judging from the surroundings and 
associations it does not seem probable that the 
people were very far advanced in civiliza: Ion. The 
ware seems to have been made for a utilitarian 
rather than for an ornamental purp"=?e. The Phceni- 
cian ware of the rock tombs exhibits considerable 
skill in the art of pottery, which is no more than 
we should expect considering the account which 
Pliny gives of these people whom lie tells us were 
the “originators of vitrifacture, or glass making." 
Farther within the cave and situated in the 
widest and most lofty part of it, is Trench IV, in 
which were found, intermingled with a miscell- 
aneous assortment of other remains, the mete .arp tl 
bone of a human skeleton ^ 
The excavation which -^g n i ne f ee t long, five 
feet wide, and five feet six inches in depth exhibi- 
ted in section the following deposits: — 
a. Six inches of red and black clay contain- 
ing numerous stalagmiric bosses, and sta- 
lactitic pendants. Some of the latter 
were one foot six inches in length, and 
four inches in diameter. No organic 
remains; but fragments of pottery were 
plentiful. 
b. A layer of clay similar to that of the 
overlying deposit, but containing an inter 
stratified seam cf subangular boulders and 
pebbles of Lower Coralline Limestone 
most of which were in an advanced state 
of decay. 
c. A layer of brick red loam, three feet in 
thickness, containing a few small, rounded 
pebbles. 
(1) The remains were examined and determined 
by Mr. A. S. Woodward F. G. S., of the British 
Museum. 
