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A SUPPOSED NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT.
[Some substance resembling Red Ochre was found on the
bottom of the Relic-bed. On this Mr. F. W. Rudler, F.G.S.,
has kindly reported as follows :—
Two pieces of a fine laminated sandy clay, coloured with oxide of iron,
forming a peach-blossom coloured ochre, which gives a good streak, and
might have been used as a pale reddle. Mr. C. Reid does not know any
material like it among the rocks of East Anglia, and suggest that it may have
been derived from the Trias.—F. W. Rudler]
Iron Relics.—Some Horse-shoes were found nearer the
surface ; of these, several belong to small animals the size of a
cob; they occur at a high level, but the pattern is mediaeval
type; a small space is left for the frog ; the rim is 11/2 inches
wide; there are nail holes, but no tips front or back ; the bottom
Fig. 16. Fragment of base of vessel from Skitts Hill. One-half size.
is distinctly convex for the tread. This kind of horse-shoe is
usually called Roman ; but I doubt the correctness of the term ;
it would be better to call them Saxon, Danish, or Norman, for
we know that these people shod their horses by nailing the shoes
on.
NOTES BY THE AUTHOR.
The Cause of the Preservation of Some of the Objects.
The condition of the bones at various levels varies much.
Those found in the lowest bed are almost perfect, for these sank
under the gently-moving water at the margin of a broad lake,
and were subsequently enveloped in the lake mud, mixed with
vegetable growth and decayed weeds and rushes. Under these
conditions the bones obtained the smooth, glossy, and unctuous