The thanks of the Committee are especially due to Mr. C. S. Prideaux for the constant help rendered to Mr. Gray, and for the hospitality accorded to him during his visit. We should also mention Major Willcock and Mr. Sebastian Evans, who almost daily gave assistance on the ground. As in former years, materials and appliances were lent by the Town Council of Dorchester, Messrs. Lott and Walne, Mr. Foot, Mr. Slade, and Mr. Feacey, to all of whom we tender our thanks.

The total expenditure for the year came to £84 6s. 4d., and the receipts to £100 14s. 7d., but charges incidental to the production of this Report have still to be met.

Signed on behalf of the Committee,

H. COLLEY MARCH,

Chairman.

SHORT REPORT

ON THE EXCAVATIONS OF 1912.

By H. ST. GEORGE GRAY.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES ACCOMPANYING THIS REPORT:

PLATE I.—Sketch-plan of Maumbury Rings, similar to that given in the Third Interim Report, 1910, the position of the 1912 excavations having been added. It shows the relative position of the cuttings made in 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1912, but the scale is too small to attempt to show structural details. This plan differs, however, from the previous one in indicating the position of the prehistoric shafts so far discovered, and it is seen that they follow the curve of the great embankment at the foot of the interior slope.

PLATE II., FIG. A.-Cutting XXVII., outside the N.N.E. Entrance, September 4th, 1912. Photograph taken from the W.N.W. margin of a grave containing a human skeleton, the knees of which are drawn up. The interment was at a minimum depth of 2:4ft. below the surface of the turf. To the east a smaller excavation in the solid chalk was found, connected with the grave proper, but divided by a slight ridge of chalk. At the bottom of the smaller hole a few iron nails and a dark brown earthenware pot, of Romano-British type, were discovered. The pot (fig. 1 in text) is shown in this photograph in the exact position in which it was uncovered, at a distance of 3.2ft. from the top of the skull.

PLATE II., FIG. B.—Cutting XXI., Shaft X., September 13th, 1912. Part of the back of the skull of a red-deer with antlers attached ; photographed in the position discovered in the filling of Shaft X,, at a depth of 14.5ft. below the turf over the arena. The skull was found tight against the wall of the shaft. One of the antlers (max. length

3ft. 2ins.) was complete, having brow, bez, and trez tines, and four points on top. A broken antler pick is seen at the bottom of the photograph.

PLATE III.-Cutting XXI., W.N.W. side of the arena, September 13th, 1912. Photograph giving a general view of this large cutting taken from the N.W. terrace, looking S.W.; in the distance the S.W. embankment, and on the extreme left the southern entrance. The solid chalk wall covers a large part of the right-hand side of the photograph, above which the material forming the XVII. Century terrace is seen. Following the line of the eastern margin of the cutting and running nearly parallel to it, the curved edge of the arena is well defined; it is bounded by the "inner trench," in which the position of the post-holes is indicated by wooden pegs. The line of the 66 outer trench " is represented by the post-holes seen in the middle of the foreground. Owing to the presence of a series of prehistoric shafts, rammed chalk had to be used by the Romans very considerably in this position. The levelling-rod stands on rammed chalk flooring, which, on being removed, revealed Shaft VIII.; the mouths of other shafts are seen in the photograph.

PLATE IV.—Cutting XXI., Shafts VIII., IX., and X., September 18th, 1912. Photograph taken from the N.N.E. showing some of the shafts excavated in the solid chalk in prehistoric times and re-excavated recently to reveal their form, depth, and contents. At the top of the photograph the margin of Shaft VIII. can be traced; this was not re-excavated. Behind the top of the ladder the mouth of Shaft IX. is seen; this was entirely cleared out, its depth being 28.5ft. below the surface of the turf over the arena. The 25-rung ladder stands on the bottom of Shaft X. (depth 25·5ft.); this pit had a double bottom divided by a little chalk ridge 9ins. high. In the immediate foreground comes Shaft XI., the S. half of which was re-excavated to the bottom (depth 28ft.).

PLATE V.—Cutting XXI., Shafts IX., X., and XI., September 18th, 1912. Photograph taken from the S.S.W. from the slope of the terrace, showing Shaft XI. in process of re-excavation. Shaft IX., in the foreground, was cleared out and filled up again before this photograph was taken. The 25-rung ladder rests on the bottom of Shaft X. Dark seams of mould or decayed vegetable matter are seen in the chalk rubble filling of Shaft XI. Very narrow ridges of chalk are seen to divide Shafts IX. and X., and Shafts X. and XI. On the right-hand side the edge of the western curve of the solid chalk arena-floor is seen; Roman remains were found on it.

I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Our knowledge of Roman amphitheatres in Britain has been at a standstill from the time of the close of the excavations at Maumbury Rings in 1910 till the renewal of the work at Dorchester in August, 1912. It was anticipated that the exploration of the amphitheatre known as "King Arthur's Round Table "at Caerleon would be continued in 1912, but it has not been found practicable. There is, however, at the present time a scheme before the public to raise £500 to purchase the site of this amphitheatre, to excavate it, and to put the remains in such a state of repair as to enable them to withstand the weather. When completed it is possible that the monument may be handed over to the National Trust. Comparative notes on the Maumbury and Caerleon amphitheatres were given in my third Report, and Mr. John Ward, F.S.A., has since that time put a few notes on record.*

The oval structure at Caerwent has not been proved to be an amphitheatre,† and recent excavations there have revealed nothing of a definite character. There is said to be a circular wall, some 130 feet in diameter, enclosing an octagon, and inside the latter some stonework not yet examined.‡

The director of the Maumbury excavations, as in past years, has received valuable support from the members of the sub-Committee, and the general organisation of the investigations was all that could be desired. Dr. H. Colley March, F.S.A., Captain J. E. Acland, F.S.A., and Mr. W. de C. Prideaux were frequently on the ground; and Mr. Chas. S. Prideaux, without whom the work could not have been carried on with any degree of comfort, showed all his

*Archaeol. Journ., LXIX. (1912), 184, 193, 203.

† Archaeol. Journ., LXIX. (1912), 198.

It is thought that the structure may prove to be some sort of temple.

enthusiasm and acumen of former years; his camping arrangements, with caravan and tents, were even on a more lavish scale than in 1910. The kind assistance of Major S. Willcock and Mr. Sebastian Evans cannot be too warmly acknowledged. As previously, the director has held himself responsible for the recording of the work, the preparation of all plans, sectional drawings and photographs,* as well as the care and repair of the relics discovered. Help in the matter of identifying specimens has been kindly rendered by Mr. E. T. Newton, F.R.S., Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S., and Mr. W. Denison Roebuck, F.L.S.

In conjunction with this, the Fourth Interim Report, readers are recommended to peruse the previously published papers on the subject, to enable them to interpret the full significance of some of the details of structural interest. The sketch-plan (Plate I.) is intended merely to show the general outline of Maumbury Rings and the relative position of the twenty-nine cuttings already made. The detailed plans, sectional diagrams, and contoured map (it should be repeated in this paper) are reserved for a fuller Report on the excavations.

During this season the investigation of the outer part of the northern entrance was completed, finding the Civil War trench again and the limit of the chalk cut to form a flat roadway leading into the arena. The first cutting (No. XXII.) made, revealed quite a new structural feature, viz., a deep trench of V-shaped section which extended first in a N.W. direction, and afterwards turned almost due south, terminating at the foot of the great embankment not many yards westward of the western margin of the entrance. In pursuing this investigation another human skeleton, the fifth found in these excavations, was discovered-in this instance in a shallow grave hewn in the chalk,-and associated with these

* Subscribers may see the full series of photographs (1908-1910, and 1912) on applying at the Dorset County Museum.