Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 33.djvu/685

Rh Robin-Hood Cave, the upper beds of the fore part of the Church Hole were also examined, and the main passage (A), up to a wall built across the narrow part of the fissure 25 feet from our door, was dug up, as well as part of Chamber B. A large number of bones and teeth of the Woolly Rhinoceros, the Mammoth, the Horse, the Reindeer, the Bison, the Brown Bear, and the Hyæna were obtained, the teeth of the Horse being particularly abundant; and no fewer than 27 tibiæ and 18 femora, as well as other parts of the skeleton of the Rhinoceros, were found here. Amongst these bones there were also a perfect ulna of a bear, and several milk-teeth of the Mammoth, besides one large fourth molar which Mr. Heath was fortunate enough to find near the old wall: this measured 11 inches in length by 9 inches in height.

1. The Talus.—When we resumed work this year we began, as we had done at the Robin-Hood Cave, by making an examination of the talus at its mouth (fig. 10). This consisted of surface-soil a few inches in thickness; in this, on the left-hand side, close to the extreme edge of the entrance, a very fine and perfect bronze fibula was found; this was the only trace of Roman civilization found outside the cave. Under the surface-soil was a bed of reddish earth or sand, 1 foot 7 inches thick, with blocks of limestone in it. This bed contained a few teeth and bones of the Rhinoceros, Bear, Hyæna, Badger, Horse, Reindeer, and Cervus megaceros, and also some fragments of the lower jaw of a large Wolf. Below the red bed was one of white calcareous sand containing a black layer, probably of oxide of manganese; in this we found no bones.

2. Deposits in Interior.—Our first work in the interior of the cave was to clear out all the front part as far as the wall already mentioned, so as to get a good road for the barrows, and also to make a complete section of the various beds. Beneath the previously examined material, undisturbed red sand was found, containing various bones and teeth, but nothing of great importance. Close to the wall in the long passage (A) the total thickness of the floor-deposits was about 9 feet, gradually narrowing downwards, the bottom of the cave being a mere fissure about 1 foot wide. A very complete section was obtained at this point, all the beds of this cave being well developed here (fig. 11). It will be noticed that they are almost identical in general character and arrangement with those already described in the Robin-Hood Cave, and were doubtless deposited at the same period and under similar circumstances.

3. The Breccia.—We have first a stalagmitic breccia (1), averaging 1 foot in thickness. At one or two places in Chamber A this breccia was as much as 5 feet thick; but it only attained that thickness close to the side of the cave, and it was then mostly of a very open character, having numerous cavities in it filled with stalactites (figs. 12, 13). There was evidently at some former time a considerable amount of breccia in the front part of the cavern, although now nothing remains of it but masses of stalagmite projecting here and there from the sides. At about 31 feet from the door, where Section II. (fig. 11) was taken, the upper part of the breccia was