410 
ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 
of the place. During the summer, however, Dr. Grigor will, I hope, 
make some researches at this spot. In the old bed of the same lake is a 
small “ Crannoge,” about ten feet high and eighteen yards in diameter. 
It is composed of stones, bound together by beams of wood, and close 
to it I found a bone awl. From the same place Dr. Grigor has 
obtained part of a stone vessel and two oblong stones, each about 
four inches long and half an inch thick ; one is rounded at the cor¬ 
ners, the other is angular ; they seem to have been used as polishers. 
A very similar Crannoge was found many years ago in the Loch of 
Spynie. 
The first of the shell-mounds which we visited was at Bannat 
Hill, near Burghead, on the coast of Elgin, and close to the west 
side of the Alves and Burghead Bail way. It was a small heap, 
nearly circular, and about six yards in diameter, resting on a nucleus 
of sand, which is at the middle about four feet high, and gradually 
slopes towards the ridges. The shelly layer is nowhere more than a 
foot in thickness, and is quite at the surface. Periwinkles (Littorina 
littorea ) are most abundant, but there are also many Limpets 
(Patella vulgata), some specimens of Purpura lapillus, and of Mussels 
(Mytilus eclulis), which, however, are so disintegrated and broken up 
that I did not find one perfect valve. We observed also many frag¬ 
ments of crabs’ claws. As usual, many of the stones were broken 
by the heat of the fire, and at a little distance I picked up the butt 
end of a flake. 
Eragments of bone were numerous, but, as usual, very frag¬ 
mentary. We determined only the ox, sheep, and pig. We did not 
find a trace of pottery. 
Hear this shell-heap, but on the other side of the railway, are 
two others, very similar to the first. In one of these we found a 
piece of stag’s horn, and some fragments of bone, probably referable 
to the same animal. Bemains of the ox, sheep, and pig were as 
abundant as before. 
In addition to the shells already mentioned, we found a few 
Cockles. There were numerous traces of fire, but I found no pot¬ 
tery nor stone implements. Close by, however, I picked up a minute 
fragment of flint. 
Erom this shell-mound we obtained three small implements of 
bone, with a single exception the only ones which have been as yet 
discovered in the Scotch shell-mounds. The first is about two 
inches and a-half long, but the point is imperfect. The head is 
clumsy, rounded, and a little flatter at the sides. The second is 
more primitive in character; it is an awl or pointed instrument, 
formed out of a long bone split open; the length is rather more 
than three inches, of which the upper half is brought to a point, 
while at the lower half the natural form of the bone is left un¬ 
altered. The third is a small bit of bone about two inches long, 
and brought to a point at one end. It may perhaps be doubted 
whether this was intended as an instrument; its pointed end might 
