Many decided definitely that it was of Roman origin. For the most part, these speculations have not been based upon the tangible evidence of the Stones, the Tools, and the Barrows, but rather upon the records of early historians, whose evidence in those days was probably not a question of first-hand information.
After all, the objects actually exhumed from the foundations of the Stones, must of necessity be the evidence of greatest importance. What are these objects? The following is a complete list taken from Mr. Gowland's report.
Excavation I. (Seven feet deep.)—A Roman coin of Commodus and a penny of George III. at eight inches below the turf.
A flint hammer-stone, and a splinter of deer's horn embedded in the chalk, at a depth of two and a half feet (below datum line).
Excavation II. (Eight feet deep.)—Two, edged hammer-stones of flint, and two rounded ones of the same material, at a depth of three feet (below datum).
Excavation III. (Eight feet three inches.)—A halfpenny of George I., just below the turf.
A Roman coin (sestertius of Antonia) ten inches below the turf, and a pewter farthing of James II. at the same depth.
Below this, at a depth varying from two feet to four feet, were twenty-six axes and hammer-stones of flint, two hammer-stones of Sarsen, and a large maul of the same material weighing over sixty-four pounds.
A fourth excavation, known as Excavation Q, yielded at a depth of three feet six inches to four feet six inches, ten flint axes, one sandstone axe, nine edged flint hammer-stones, four rounded flint hammer-stones, ten Sarsen hammers, and seven mauls, weighing from thirty-six to fifty-eight and a half pounds. Large numbers of deer's horn splinters were discovered in this excavation.
Excavation V. (Eight feet deep.)—Four axes of flint, one of Sarsen, three edged hammer-stones of flint, one Sarsen and one Diabase hammer-stone, were found at depths varying between two feet and four feet.