large chambers, which have very evidently been used for human occupation. A superficial cutting showed the surface-soil to be not much above an inch thick at the entrance, and that it rested on a similar sand to that found in the first fissure; in this surface-layer were several lower molars of Rhinoceros tichorhinus and some hyæna-teeth, some of which were also found in the top of the underlying sand bed, together with numerous chippings of flint, a bit of a flint flake, and also some implements made from the pebbles so frequent in this sand.
There is no flint found in the neighbourhood; so, doubtless, our ancestors would be glad to made use of the best material they could obtain on the spot, viz. pebbles derived, together with the sand itself, I should suppose, from the denudation of the once overlying Bunter beds.
The upper part of the floor of this cavern also contained a small piece of Samian ware showing an ornamental rim, and with this two or three pieces of a coarser earthenware vessel; a few recent bones of sheep and a human tooth were also found here. The exploration of this cavern I hope to be able to pursue as soon as that of the one already successfully begun has been completed.
List of the Animals whose remains were found in the First Fissure (A), Creswell Crags.
|
Homo.
|
Bos primigenius.
|
APPENDIX.
The bones forming this collection belong to species of the genera:
|
1. Ursus.
|
5. Bos.
|
9. Rhinoceros.
|
I. Order CARNIVORA.
1. Ursus.
The principal remains belonging to the Bear are:—
1. A sixth cervical vertebra, the body of which measures 2⋅4 inches in transverse diameter.
