"but also of the individual to whom they belonged. For if

66

we find tusks of elephants in a cave, the ivory of which "exhibits little or no indications of decay (and these are "unhesitatingly allowed to be of a very remote date), by "what process of reasoning can we refer articles made of ivory, decomposing from the effects of time, and associated "with the former, to a later or more recent date?"*

The perforated shells of the Craven caves, consequently, might also safely be referred to this early British era, were they not quite likely to have been used by children, as much for toys as for ornament, and, consequently, their precise age is very questionable. Identical objects, rudely formed of stone and bone, with similarly perforated sea shells, accompanied by bones of large extinct deer and oxen, the roebuck &c., have been exhumed from the foundations of an ancient Pict's house or hut, at Kettleburn, in Caithness, and by the sea, from among the ancient forest trees upon the Cheshire shore, whilst analogous remains have, it is believed, been discovered in Thor's cave-also in the limestone-in Derbyshire, but the long-promised report of the late excavations in this cavern has not yet been made public. The animals just mentioned were without doubt existent here during the early centuries of the Christian era.†

* Vide Mr. Denny's Pamphlet.

+ In the Caverns of Perigord, (south of France,) situate in considerable numbers near the tributaries of the Dodoagne, the breccia or limy conglomerate, forming the latter flooring, is found replete with archæological remains, commingled with those of animals, chiefly the Reindeer; they comprise human bones, charcoal, flint weapons and other instruments, bone arrow heads, needles &c. In the celebrated Kirkdale cave Dr. Buckland found the remains of all the animals noticed hitherto in the Craven caves, except the wolfdog, mingled with those of the elephant, rhinoceros and hippopotamus, proving these to some extent contemporaneous, but I believe no human remains were found amongst them, and the absence of the wolfdog, a creature far more likely to have been used by man than the unwieldly ones named above, is very significant. At Brixham cave Dr. Falconer found primeval instruments of flint, with bones of the animals we have just alluded to, whilst in another, near Palermo, the Grotto di Maccagnone, flint and agate knives occurred with similar remains. It is evident, however, that these human relics are of a much earlier date than could be assigned to any found as yet in the Craven caves.

In the Collection of Mr H Ecroyd Smith

ANCIENT BRITISH BROOCHES.

DISCOVERED IN LIMESTONE CAVES NEAR SETTLE, CRAVEN, YORKSHIRE

Before entering upon the Romano-British period, it may be well, despite Mr. Wright's dictum, to submit proofs of an intermediate occupation of the caves by a much more refined race than that just described, a people well acquainted with the metal bronze, if not also with iron. Ornaments have been found in the caves, of a class. which has hitherto escaped public notice, although the best examples have been in the possession of Mr. Jackson for some years, viz., circular bronze brooches of unusual construction and design, as also of a high class of art, whoever may prove to have been the designers and fabricators. Two of these brooches now made public by our lithographic plate,-viz., Nos. I and II—are mainly composed of a strong and circular cast bronze disk, upon the front of which was secured, by some species of solder a thin ornamental plate, likewise of bronze, the back being duly provided with an acus and a flange for securing the point of this, after piercing the dress. Several other specimens have been found, inclusive of one by the writer, in June of last year; but, save upon the two exhibited, none of the ornamental portion has remained. It would seem that the wet slimy matter, in or immediately under which these objects are found, has decomposed the solder, causing the outer plating to shell off, and it was with no little trouble that Mr. Jackson was enabled to preserve the valuable remains now published. But though few in number, these ornaments suffice to prove, in their superior execution, no second-rate artist's workmanship; whilst their boldness and freedom of design, differing, and yet so alike in general character, must be admitted by all. Now it so happens that none of the Roman fibulæ or other ornaments found in this country, innumerable and of infinite variety as they are, display the peculiar character and design of these; their patterns being, almost without exception, engraved upon, or cast in, the solid metal of the objects. Even the very shape is most unusual, for intimate as we all are with the circular

fibula securing the toga or other dress, as displayed upon Roman coin, statuary and painting, (inclusive, of course, of frescoes and mosaics,) probably not one brooch in a thousand is found of this form, either here or upon the continent, their remarkable scarcity conducing to the belief that although not in general use, circular fibulæ were nevertheless highly esteemed as lordly or imperial. No. IV is of the same shape, but smaller in size, and possesses a projecting rim, no doubt to protect the ornament, once inlaid but now lost. No. III is of a yellower or more brassy bronze than the others, and has been formed much like an antique circular and convex shield with projecting umbo, and the addition of six small points; there has been a setting of stone or coloured enamel around the central pivot, but this has perished. No. V is simply formed of stout bronze wire, convoluted at either end, and furnished with a pin; it belongs apparently to a class of personal ornaments by no means often found in this country, but frequently in ancient Scandinavia, and it is probably coeval with the other brooches. But, whatever may be the opinion of antiquaries as regards Nos. III, IV and V, I have little doubt they will unite with Mr. Roach Smith, Mr. Mayer and others, in acknowledging Nos. I and II as British, (Celtic) i.e., of a fabrication certainly distinct from Roman, and possibly native, although dating from about the commencement of our era. A brooch, which has all the appearance of belonging to the same category as these, but which it is to be feared is lost, was found with ancient British coins and sepulchral urns at Lancing Down, in Sussex, in 1828, and is engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine, July, 1830, plate II; but ignorantly included in "Roman remains." Its design, likewise of a spirited character, represents a sea monster, its tail terminating in a crescent, which ornament appears on each

• Or Gaulish, objects of this class having been discovered more frequently in France than elsewhere.