The Refuse-heap.
The first intimation of any prehistoric remains in that locality was afforded by a small box of bones forwarded to me by Mr. Darwin, in 1869; and this I was able to follow up, through the kind assistance of Mrs. Lloyd, the owner of the property on which they were found, from time to time, during 1869–70–71–2. The mountain limestone, which there forms hill and valley, consists of thick masses of hard rock, separated by soft beds of shale, and contains large quantities of producti, crinoids and corals. The strata dip to the south, at an angle of about 1 in 25, and form two parallel ridges, with abrupt faces to the north, and separated from each other by a narrow valley, passing east and west along the strike. The remains sent by Mr. Darwin were obtained from a space between two strata near the top of the northern ridge, whence the intervening softer material had been carried away by water. Its maximum height was 6 inches, and its width 20 feet or more; and it extended in a direction parallel to the bed of the rocks. The bones, which had evidently been washed in by the rain, and not carried in by any carnivora, belong to the following species:—
Canis familiaris—The Dog.
Canis vulpes—The Fox.
Meles taxus—The Badger.
Sus scrofa—The Pig.
Cervus capreolus—The Roe-deer.
Cervus elaphus—The Red-deer.
Capra hircus—The Goat.
Bos longifrons—The Celtic Short-horn.
Equus caballus—The Horse.
Arvicola amphibius—The Water-rat.
Lepus timidus—The Hare.
Lepus cuniculus—The Rabbit.
The Eagle.
Nearly all the bones were broken, and belonged to young animals. Those of the Celtic short-horn, of the sheep or goat, and of the young pig, were very abundant; while those of the roe and stag, hare and horse, were comparatively rare. The remains of the domestic dog were rather abundant, and the percentage of young puppies implies also that they, like the other animals, had been used for food. Possibly the hare may also have been eaten, but its remains were scarce, and belonged to adults. Some of the bones had been gnawed by dogs. The only reasonable cause that can be assigned for the accumulation of the remains of these animals is, that the locality was inhabited by men of pastoral habits, but yet to a certain extent dependent on the chase, and that the relics of their food were thrown out to form a refuse-heap. The latter had altogether disappeared from the surface of the ground, from the action of the rain and other atmospheric causes, while those portions of it which chanced to be washed into the narrow interspace between the strata were preserved, to mark the spot which it once occupied.
There was nothing in the deposit that fixes the date of its accumulation. It may have been of the stone, bronze, or iron age; but from the presence of the goat, short-horned ox, and dog, it certainly does not date so far back as the epoch of the reindeer, mammoth, rhinoceros, and cave-hyæna. The presence of the Celtic short-horn throws no light upon the antiquity, because for centuries after it had ceased to be the domestic breed in England it remained in Wales, and still lives in the small black Welsh cattle, that are lineal descendants of those which furnished beef to the Roman provincials in Britain.
The Sepulchral Caves.
Fig. 36.—Section of Cave at Perthi-Chwareu. Scale 12 feet to 1 inch.
While the refuse-heap was being explored, I chose a small depression ([Fig. 36] A) in the precipitous side of the southern ridge, that formed a kind of rock shelter overlooking the valley, and that seemed to be a likely place for the abode of man, or of wild animals. On setting the men to work, in a few minutes we began to discover the remains of dog, marten-cat, fox, badger, goat, Celtic short-horn, roe-deer and stag, horse, and large birds. Mixed with these, as we proceeded, we began to find human bones, between and underneath large masses of rock, that were completely covered up with red silt and sand. As these were cleared away, we gradually realized that we were on the threshold of a sepulchral cave. In the small space then excavated, human remains, belonging to no fewer than five individuals, were found. Subsequently the work was carried on by Mrs. Lloyd, under the careful supervision of her agent Mr. Reid. The rock-shelter narrowed into a “tunnel cave,” that penetrated the rocks in a line parallel to the bedding, and, roughly speaking, at right angles to the valley, having a width varying from 3 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 6 inches, and a height from 3 feet 4 inches to 4 feet 6 inches.