Since the publication of the 1926 Report on these excavations much important work has been accomplished, four pits, all of the intermediate mining phase, have been completely excavated and a fifth, (Pit No. 12) commenced. In addition, 32 sections have been dug, chiefly in the West Field, which have confirmed the evidence already published and provided further important evidence as to the extent and nature of the mining activities in general.

The object of this paper is to make known the existence of a wide-spread implementiferous deposit hitherto unknown in Devonshire, although comparable discoveries have been made in East Anglia by Mr. Reid Moir and in the Thames Valley by Mr. J. P. T. Burchell.

A brief preliminary statement appeared in Vol. VII, part 2, in “Notes on Excavations,” which reported our finding a number of flint implements which lay to a depth of 12 ft. below the surface of a dry valley in Bovey Lane, Beer.

These specimens were revealed in an artificial cutting made in search of water, when only the faces of the sections could be examined, but by aid of a grant from the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund, we were later enabled to carry out two seasons of excavation.

In the Antrim Collection at the Ashmolean Museum is a group of sherds said to be from a chambered cairn near Lame, co. Antrim. There are no exact details of the find available, but a label pasted inside one sherd states that it was found in a tumulus in 1869. Mr. E. Thurlow Leeds first drew attention to this pottery in 1927 and indicated its importance, but it has not hitherto been fully studied.

The group is unambiguously linked by certain sherds with a small series of Scottish Neolithic wares, represented by the well-known bowls from the Clachaig and Beacharra segmented cairns, but other fragments show remarkable features which serve to isolate it as a group sui generis.

The importance of the group lies in the mixture of styles represented. The actual forms of the pottery suggest kinship with the great Windmill Hill family of the British Neolithic wares, and certain sherds (Nos. 4, 5, 11, 12, and 16) exhibit features of decoration (transverse strokes on the rim, shallow grooves, etc.) characteristic of this class alone. On the other hand, the motifs of cord impressions, both plain and whipped, hatched triangles and herringbone on the other sherds are completely unknown in the pure Windmill Hill ceramics and occur in the British Neolithic only in the pottery of the Peterborough culture. The arrangement of the ornament in panels on Nos. 1 and 3 is, however, a distinctive Windmill Hill style.

For a distance of four miles north of Newbiggin-on-Sea, Northumberland, the coast presents a stretch of low cliffs and headlands of sandstone, alternating with shallow bays flanked by sand-dunes, the dunes usually resting visibly on a low boulder clay cliff, not usually rising more than 20 ft. above high tide level. The river Lyne reaches the coast now about two miles north of Newbiggin, at Lyne Sands, but in preglacial and early post-glacial time, entered the sea at Newbiggin bay. The old course of the river is occupied by the “Carrs,” a strip of swampy peat, proved at several places by boring, to reach a depth of over twenty feet and to be underlain by river gravel on boulder clay. The basal layers of the peat are proved by pollen analysis to be of latest Boreal age. Between this old channel and the sea, lies Newbiggin Moor, between 30 ft. and 50 ft. OD. a wide stretch of sandstone covered by thin soil, and occasional peat and blown sand. In early Boreal time this would be a headland prolonged southward between the sea on the east and the river Lyne on the west. At a subsequent period the Lyne has broken through its present course to the sea, north of Lyne Sands. The foreshore is made up by a wide stretch of sandstone, flats and skerries overlain by boulder clay, making the low cliff in the southern part, with sand dunes resting directly on the clay. Northward the sandstone gradually rises and towards Cresswell Point makes the whole cliff, with only a thin boulder clay cover on top.

The antiquities here described came to light in the course of commercial gravel digging, but though we lack stratigraphical information they appear to be of sufficient importance in themselves to be worthy of accurate record. It is entirely due to the efforts and care of Mr. Ivan Thatcher, of King's Lynn, that they were recovered at all and we would like to thank him for the great trouble he has taken to see that as much as possible became available for study. Through his generosity the greater part of the Beaker pottery and also the figured sherds of the Early Iron Age and Romano-British periods are now in the University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge. Messrs.F. B. and G. W. Gorbould, the lessees of the pit, have co-operated patiently in the preservation of Antiquities from the site, and Mr. J. R. Gorboud has also been very helpful. We have also to thank Miss Feetham for placing a Beaker (No. 2) on deposit in the same museum. Mr. Cockle of Lynn, kindly allowed the jet bead to be drawn. Finally we have to thank Mr. L. C. G. Clarke, F.S.A., and Miss O' Reilly of the Cambridge Museum for granting facilities for studying the objects in their charge.

Runcton Holme is situated some six miles due south of King's Lynn and about a mile to the east of the river Ouse. The exact position of the site is shown by Fig. 1. It consists of a low gravel promontory averaging about 20 feet above O.D. (Newlyn) and overlooking a vast expanse of Fenland. The marginal character of the site is illustrated by the fact that, but for the embanking of the Ouse, high spring tides would approach it quite closely. There appear to have been two main periods of early settlement on the site, Peterborough-Beaker and Early Iron Age-Romano-British, with an interval roughly speaking of a millenium when, so far as we can tell, it was abandoned. Whether this gap is a real one and whether in which case it was due to some natural cause, we cannot on the evidence before us decide. It will, however, be instructive to observe whether other sites discovered in the future on this gravel edge reveal a similar break in human occupation. The objects dating from the first occupation are briefly described in this paper, while the later occupation which accounts for the bulk of the archaeological material is dealt with by Mr. Christopher Hawkes, F.S.A. , of the British Museum.

In 1931 I described two newly-discovered stone age industries of post-glacial age situated in north-east Ireland which had been made by myself and worked in conjunction with my friend C. Blake Whelan: the one from the Lower Estuarine Clay on Islandmagee, and the other from what is probably a fluviatile gravel intercalated between the Upper and Lower Estuarine Clays in the raised-beach formation at Cushendun.

The former of these cultures has its counterpart in the blade industry beneath alluvium in the Orwell Estuary at Ipswich, Suffolk; whilst the latter finds its parallel in the raised-beach at Campbeltown in Argyllshire, Scotland. Adopting the familiar culture-sequence of Central Europe I had previously designated these two groups as phases of the Magdalenian period, but, in order to avoid confusion between the time-periods and the nomenclature of continental cultures, I have decided to base my chronology of the north Irish industries upon the natural changes of climate revealed by a study of the deposits in which they were found. The industries to be described below were contemporary with the Mesolithic Forest Cultures distinguished by Childe and Clark over the plain of northern Europe.

The type of flint implement which we are investigating here was first distinguished by the late Sir John Evans in his Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain as long ago as 1872. Out of a total of 52 specimens noted in this paper, 12 were mentioned by Evans in his 2nd edition, 12 have been published elsewhere, and 28 are here recorded for the first time. Outlines of 50 and a photograph of another are given in Figs. 1-3,7 and 8.

They consist of long narrow blades carefully flaked over both faces, which are of roughly equal convexity, to produce two cutting edges. In plan the tip and the butt are usually defined by the more tapering character of the former, while the general outline is asymmetric. The type as thus defined is quite distinct from any other, though it differs only by its asymmetry from certain leaf-shaped blades flaked over both faces. There is, however, a further characteristic, namely a varying extent and degree of concavity of one cutting edge, which further defines our type and marks it off still more from other flint forms. We mention in this paper two examples showing asymmetry of form (Nos. 28 and 29), but lacking any degree of concavity in either cutting-edge, as they may be related to the true sickle form.

In this paper I shall endeavour to outline the progress which has been made recently in archaeological studies in the prehistoric periods in Wales. In the last number of the Proceedings (1931, 383–4), I contributed at the request of the Secretary a number of notes on this subject, taking as my starting point the publication of Dr. R. E. M. Wheeler's book, Prehistoric and Roman Wales, in 1925. In the present instance I propose to give a more detailed, as well as a more general account, demonstrating how recent research and discoveries have advanced our knowledge, clarifying the position in relation both to Wales herself and to the connexions of Wales with other external influences.

The publication of Prehistoric and Roman Wales in 1925 may truly be said to mark the end of one era and the beginning of a new. Drawing together the scattered threads of what had been done before, Wheeler has given them meaning and set forth the results of many years of unorganised, frequently ill-considered, work in tangible form. In so doing, he has exposed the gaps in our knowledge and suggested, specifically or by implication, a policy in the form of a series of problems the elucidation of which will lead ultimately to a more complete picture of the early cultures of Wales, and hence of Britain as a whole. Wheeler's survey therefore forms a natural and admirable jumping-off place, and the subject will be treated in the following pages in its natural chronological sequence.

In the following study, the region dealt with is bounded on the north by the Thames, and on the west by the Avebury and Stonehenge areas. It consists therefore of Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent, and a small portion of Dorset. The area contains about five thousand barrows, or ancient burial-mounds, about seven-eighths of which I have seen; it is believed therefore that the following details are fairly complete.

In 1932 the writer published a catalogue of and a commentary on the Neolithic Pottery of the British Isles, in which emphasis was laid on the essential division, first distinguished by Kendrick nearly ten years ago, into the Windmill Hill (Neolithic A) and Peterborough (Neolithic B) groups, and it was claimed that “evidence is consistent in pointing to a late date for Peterborough ware, with constant contacts with the beakers, while the Windmill Hill antedates this.” Since the publication of this paper, however, re-examination of the material, certain new evidence, and above all a most valuable discussion with Mr. E. Thurlow Leeds have made it clear that this claim for a difference of date all over Britain was unfounded. The most convincing, and indeed almost startling evidence was in the form of certain sherds from the recent excavations by Dr. Cecil Curwen in the causewayed camp of Whitehawk, near Brighton. Dr. Curwen invited the writer to examine and describe the pottery, and a brief commentary was contributed to the report on the excavations. Owing to the exigencies of space and other considerations it was thought advisable to omit from this report any discussion of the wider implications suggested, and to deal with them in a separate paper.

Since the Whitehawk sherds form the real basis of the revised views presented in this paper, it is well to consider them in some detail, at the risk of partial repetition of the account already published elsewhere. (Fig. 1.)

Bodney Warren, in the neighbourhood of which the skull and beaker illustrated were found in the summer of 1930, though on a direct line between Thetford and Swaffham, is one of the most remote places in Norfolk. The parish is thinly populated, and the warren and neighbouring “brecks” occupy a considerable part of a tongue of hard land, about 2½ miles long and one mile wide, overlooking on the west, north and north-east the marshy valleys of the River Wissey and a tributary. The “Smugglers Road,” a track-road more or less parallel to the Peddars Way, runs straight towards Swaffham through the middle of the area, but tails off into a cattle track as it approaches two fords at the north end of the parish. The present main roads pass through more populous villages on the far side of the river valleys.

The excavation of this pit was commenced in 1928, continued in 1930 and 1932 and completed in 1933. A brief account of the work up to the end of 1932 is included in the Interim Report of the Percy Sladen Trust Excavations 1927–1932 published in Proceedings, viii. 5. p. 60.

Pit 12 is situated at the extreme eastern end of the West Field the boundary fence of which intersected a segment of the shaft and was removed during the excavations. Consequently, the pit is only a few yards distant from the nearest pit of the visible series and within the zone which in my Presidential Address, in 1926, (Proceedings v, 13, p. 125) it is postulated that the type of mining represented by the deep visible pits commenced. In the same Address, (p.95), it was indicated on the evidence of the polished stone celts and the methods adopted in mining, that the visible pits were clearly of Neolithic date, therefore the fortunate discovery of typical Neolithic pottery in Pit 12, is not surprising, though of first class importance for dating purposes in the light of our fuller knowledge of Neolithic pottery. It also confirms and definitely establishes the conclusions arrived at in 1926 relative to the age of the deep pits and furnishes for the first time a datable horizon for the commencement of this mining phase.

Dr. Grahame Clark has in the preceding paper recorded the discoveries at Runcton Holme attesting occupation in the ages before the introduction of iron into this country. He has explained how attention came to be drawn to the site, and has testified to the vigilance and zeal with which Mr. Ivan J. Thatcher has watched its exploitation and preserved its abundant yield of antiquities. I must first of all second his appreciation of Mr. Thatcher's energy and kindness, and acknowledge my own gratitude for his help. In October, 1932, he very generously let me examine personally at his house the whole of his very large collection from the site, as well as the site itself, and he followed this up by submitting a large series of pottery, fully representative of all the classes which we had recognized in the material, for closer study by me in the British Museum. He has since kept me in close touch with all subsequent discoveries, and his support has been indispensable in the composition, and especially in ensuring the full illustration, of this paper. The drawings are the work of Mr. F. Cottrill, whose scholarly and sympathetic work is its own best testimonial. All the pieces here figured are deposited, numbered as in these pages, in the University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge. Mr. Thatcher's kindness has also enabled a type-series to be lodged in the British Museum.

Few regions have yielded so many bronzes as the East Anglian fens, yet accurate records of the circumstances of their discovery exist for a small fraction only of the finds. This is very regretable since this evidence is usually of far more importance been than the objects found. In the case of the Methwold spear-head it has to some extent recovered by the diligence of Major Gordon Fowler, F.S.A., who interviewed the discoverer, Mr. John Harrod of Methwold, and obtained the object for the University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge. The only completely satisfactory method is an immediate visit to the site of a discovery, and in this the Fenland Research Committee, which is vitally interested in such finds, is always keen to co-operate.

The site of the discovery may be found immediately below the “un” of Queen's Ground, Methwold Fen (Norfolk 6 in. sheet LXXXI, S.E., 1906 edtn.; Long. 0° 28′ 57″, Lat. 52° 30′ 29″). The spear-head itself (fig. 1) has loops at the junction of the socket and wings. Mr. Estyn Evans, F.S.A., to whom a photograph has been submitted, is of the opinion that this type marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age in Britain, in which case it would date from approximately 1000 B.C.

It would, perhaps, be more conventional to ascribe the spear-head to the end of the Middle Bronze Age.

At the November Meeting last year I gave an account of some Bronze Age cooking places situated along the River Thet above East Harling. (Proc. P.S.E.A., Vol. VI, pt. IV, p.365). On continuing the exploration lower down the river, I came upon the peculiar mound known as Micklemoor Hill, West Harling. This is an isolated mound of glacial gravel in the middle of a long stretch of alluvium on the south side of the river, and is one mile S.W. by W. of East Harling Church. It is about 300 yards long, 150 yards wide and 25 ft. high, and is 100 yards from the river bank with its longer axis parallel to the river at this point, i.e., east and west. The Hill is grass-covered and given over, to rabbits, with the exception of the S.-E. corner, which, besides having been dug for sand and gravel, has on the top an eighteenth century ice-house surrounded by a few pines and firs.

It is perhaps rather late in the day to be describing an experience of twenty-nine years ago, but unless it is done now, possibly a unique relic of the past, though still in existence, may remain unknown to a large majority of antiquaries.

It was on the 15th of April, 1905, that accompanied by Miss Outram, I started from North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland, on a voyage of discovery along the picturesque coast. Our goal was a cave opened out rather more than a hundred years ago by Mr. George Sligo, on his property of Seacliff, in the county of Haddington. According to tradition there was incontestable evidence that on this spot human sacrifices had been offered in the remote past. Fired by these dramatic accounts, we decided to seek out the cave for ourselves, and if possible, to test the accuracy of these statements.

A short drive took us to Seacliff House, marked by a cross on fig. 1. In the foreground stands Tantallon Castle, the ruined stronghold of the Douglases, and in the cliff beyond the promontory on which the Castle stands is Seacliff Cave below the arrow (fig. 1).

As we turned the corner in the winding descent from the cliff, it was an arresting scene which held us for amoment spell-bound. At the mouth of a cave, hollowed out in the red sandstone cliff, stood a large pear-shaped stone, with every appearance of an altar, raised upon an artificial mound (fig. 3). Its surface, which was approximately flat, was covered with a small blood-red plant, which had crept over it, and hanging down, seemed to drip over the edge, conjuring up with startling effect, the scene of some gruesome Pagan sacrifice. It was with feelings almost akin to awe that we entered the cave, where other remains were equally suggestive both of occupation and worship.