IV. Objects of Wood.
A large assortment of wooden implements was found chiefly in the refuse-heap, and in the portion of débris corresponding to the area of the log pavement. Owing to the softness of the wood and the large amount of moisture contained in its fibres, most of these relics have already shrunk to less than half their original bulk, and become so changed, though they were kept in a solution of alum for several weeks, that I am doubtful of being able to preserve them at all. Seeing the rapid decay they were undergoing, I got full-sized pencil-drawings taken of them, from which the accompanying illustrations have been engraved. They consist of bowls, plates, ladles, a mallet, a hoe, clubs, pins, etc., together with many objects entirely new to me, but which apparently had been used for culinary or agricultural purposes.
1. Vessels.—Fig. 101. Portions of a circular bowl, diameter 71⁄2 inches, depth (inside) 3 inches, thickness 1⁄4 inch at edges and 1⁄2 inch at bottom; bottom flattened, 3 inches diameter (outside). Other fragments of vessels similar to the above were found.
Fig. 102. Flat dish, like scallop shell, with a ring handle, length 7 inches, breadth 6 inches, thickness varies from 3⁄8 inch to a thin edge. Quite whole when disinterred from refuse-heap.
Fig. 103. Portions of a plate, diameter nearly 10 inches, thickness 3⁄8 of an inch, depth barely 1 inch; a well-formed bead ran round the rim.
Fig. 104. Ladle. Bowl nearly complete, length 10 inches, breadth 8 inches, depth (inside) 31⁄2 inches, thickness 1 to 1⁄2 inch; portion of handle still remaining.
Fig. 101 (1⁄8).