The Ayrshire Crannog

Abstract

THE remarks made by Dr. Buchanan White in your last issue in regard to the supposed existence of beech and the absence of Scotch-fir in the Ayrshire Crannog will be carefully attended to. Birch and hazel, so easily recognised by the bark, are certainly in greater abundance than any other kind of wood. I shall, however, collect as many specimens as I can find and submit them to the examination of competent authorities and publish the result in due course. We have now made a large addition to our list of relics, among which I may mention the following:—three daggers (one of which has a gold band round the handle); one knife, one gouge—all these are made of metal, of which the gouge alone has been tested and found to be bronze; a polished stone celt; a clay spindle whorl partially perforated; a curious fringe-like object made of vegetable material; several implements of bone and deers'-horn; a piece of wood with carving on it; portions of a flat dish cut out of wood; a wooden scraper cut out of a trunk of a tree with the handle formed of a branch growing straight out from it—(beside this scrape about a handful of short black hair was found);—a double paddle of a canoe together with various other wooden implements. Hitherto not a single fragment of any kind of pottery has been found on the Crannog. Being merely an amateur in this kind of research, I shall be glad to receive any suggestions from experienced gentlemen as to important points that should be looked after.