REPORT ON THE EXPLORATION OF BRIXHAM CAVE. 
477 
to take place when excavating cave-bottoms vertically down to the rock floor, and which 
has vitiated the results obtained in many other cave-explorations, more especially in 
regal'd of the contested position of human industrial remains. The excavations were 
commenced on the 14th July by Mr. Keeping, of the Isle of Wight, deputed by Mr. 
Prestwich for the purpose ; and they have been conducted with such vigour and success 
that within six weeks the stalagmite floor of the ‘ Reindeer Gallery,’ together with the 
ochreous cave-earth deposits below it, was entirely broken up, and the floor of the 
‘ Flint-knife Gallery ’ explored from its interior termination to the external ‘ central 
entrance.’ The ‘ Pen Gallery ’ was also laid open from its commencement on to the 
‘ Big (south) Chamber,’ and on a rough estimate about 1500 bones were exhumed between 
the 14th July and the 23rd August. 
“ 3. Successive floor deposits. — We are able to enter on this part of the subject only 
in a general way, having taken no precise measurements of the incomplete sections at 
different intervals in the galleries. Where all the deposits are present, the following 
section was yielded : — • 
1. Layer of stalagmite of irregular thickness. 
2. Cave-earth (ochreous), with limestone breccia. 
3. Ochreous cave-earth, with comminuted shale. 
4. Rounded gravel, depth undetermined. 
“ Occasional water-worn pebbles were found mingled with the organic remains in the 
upper deposit of cave-earth No. 2. The drip from the roof in wet weather is copious 
in all the fissure galleries, and the floor in these cases is covered with a cake of stalag- 
mite ; while in the intersecting Tunnel Gallery there is little or no drip from the roof, 
and the surface of the cave-earth is uncovered. 
“ 4. Organic Remains. — Mr. Pengelly estimates that about 1500 bones had been 
exhumed during the first six weeks of the workings. A large number of these, how- 
ever, belong to skeletons of small animals, like the Rabbit and Fox, found near the 
surface ; we consider that the great harvest of remains will be found in the low-level 
deposits which have not yet been penetrated. Remains of the following animals were 
identified by Dr. Falconer: — 
“ Rhinoceros tichorhinus. — Detached upper and lower molars, in considerable numbers, 
of young and old animals ; an astragalus bearing distinct marks of superficial gnawing, 
dug up in our presence. 
“ Ros. — Species undetermined; teeth, jaws, and other bones. 
“Horse. — Species undetermined; a few remains. 
“ Cervus tarandus. — The cranial box of the skull found near the surface by the owner 
on the first discovery of the cave, and a very fine entire antler imbedded superficially in 
the stalagmite near the intersection of the galleries E E and F F (Reindeer and Flint- 
knife Galleries) over the Ebur chasm *. 
* Formed by a thin crust of stalagmite stretching across a cavity in the cave-earth. 
