Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/391

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GAULISH FORTRESSES ON THE COAST OF BRITTANY.
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but fragments were found, they occurred in such numbers that it was not difficult to ascertain the exact forms of the principal type.

XX.—Eight discs of clay, of which the diameters vary from 22 millimetres to 6 centimetres. These are, in fact, nothing but portions of vases ground into their present form. They were found in several of the houses, but their use seems uncertain. Similar objects were found in the tumulus of Mane-Rumentur, in Carnac, and arc at present in the museum of Vannes.

XXI.—Several hundred little round polished stones of different colours, and which were collected from the shore. They were found in all the houses to which they had been brought from the beach, but for what object is unknown. Mr. Stanley, who has also found similar stones during his excavations at Tymawr, near Holyhead, asks if they might not have been intended for some kind of play. The conjecture is very plausible, but it is still a conjecture, to which I take the liberty of adding another. There exists in the Indian Seas, the Maldivian Islands, &c., a little yellow shell of the division Cypræa, and vulgularly known as Monnaie de Guinée (Cypræa moneta). These shells are picked up by women three days before and after the new moon. They are then sent to India, Siam, Africa, &c., where they are used as money by the Negroes. Is it not possible that these little pebbles might have been employed in a manner somewhat analogous to the Cypræa moneta, or, at least, have served as counters?

XXII.—Some portions of clay, burnt into brick, and bearing impressions probably of wicker-work, and found in chamber C amidst charcoal and burnt bones.

XXIII.—A large number of shells of the common limpet (Patella vulgata), which are excessively common among the rocks of Castel Coz and the whole line of sea-coast. They were found embedded in a mass on the hearth of one of the small habitations, and also in C. From the effect of time, they have become brittle to the greatest degree.

XXIV. — A great many bones of mammalia of various kinds and sizes, which, from my imperfect knowledge of comparative anatomy, I am not able to assign to their different species. Among them, at least, is the tusk of a wild boar, about three inches long. They are all more or