Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 32.djvu/326

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J. MAGENS MELLO ON THE BONE-CAVES OF CRESWELL CRAGS.

character to the bone-bearing bed of the Pin-hole, but differing from it in containing, near its base, patches of highly laminated red clay. Small nodular masses of black oxide of manganese occurred here and there in the sand, and also some quartzite and other pebbles. This middle red sand bed was about 3 feet thick, and rested upon a bed of lighter-coloured sand, containing many rough blocks of limestone already mentioned as apparently forming part of the original floor of the cavern. Fig. 2 gives a section across the

Fig. 2.—Section in the Robin-Hood Cave, in line 1, Fig. 1.

+ Stalactite uniting breccia with roof.
a. Stalagmitic breccia, with bones and implements, 18 in. to 3 ft.
b. Cave-earth, with bones and implements, of variable thickness.
c. Middle red sand with laminated red clay at base, containing bones, 3 ft.
d. Lighter-coloured sand with limestone fragments, 2 ft.?

side of the cavern where the thickness of the breccia was greatest. Fig. 3 is another section, taken across the cavern, facing the openings of the chambers, which are shown above the cutting.

The Breccia.—The Breccia (a) was firmly cemented together by stalagmite, many thick masses of which were interspersed with it; and the whole deposit was so hard that it had frequently to be blasted in order to remove it and examine its contents. It was found to contain a large number of bones, mostly of small animals, including the "Water-vole; but together with these were some of the Reindeer, and also teeth of the Hyæna, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, and Horse.