I. PRELIMINARY REPORT ON CAVES CONTAINING PALEOLITHIC RELICS, NEAR INCHNADAMPH, . BY J. GRAHAM CALLANDER, P.S.A.Scox., JAME . CREESE , F.S.A.ScoT., AND JAMES RITCHIE, M.A., D.Sc., P.R.S.E., F.S.A.Scox. In the summer of 1925 Mr James E. Cree found on the surface of the e valle a th cavfloo f f Alln n o yUamhi o er na t , near Inchnadamph, Sutherland, two pieces of horn which turned out to be the antler of a young reindeer and an incisor tooth of a bear. The deposits were un- disturbed excepa rabbit' r fo t s burrowe presumptioth d an , s thawa nt the bones had been brought to the surface from lower layers by the rabbit's activities. The cave in question was one of a series of four in a limestone bluff som fee0 e20 t abov e present-da e streameth th f o ,d UamAlln ybe na t h or " Burn of the Caves," a tributary of the Loanan, which flows into Loch n 188I r .Joh 9D n e latr BenjamiHomth D e d ean . PeacN n h explored anothe f theso r e caves—No fro3 . e westmth , terme they b dm the "Bone Cave"—and discovered therein remains of a rich Arctic fauna containing several animals now extinct in , associated with traces of human habitation. 170 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 1927Y14 . The outstanding results obtained by these excavators,1 and Mr Cree's n undisturbea fin n i d d cave, suggeste e possibilitth d f furtheyo r dis- coveries d wite consenan ,th h f Generao t l Stewar f Assyno t d an t assistance of his factor, Mr Murdo Kerr, and by the aid of a grant from Governmene th t Research e RoyaFunth f do l Societ f Londonyo , made t ocommittea e compose authore th f d o f thiso s paper, excavations were carrie durinn do g three full month summee th n si f 1926ro . Throughout this period Mr Cree superintended the work of excavation.

EXCAVATIONS OP 1926. Work was confined to three caves and their subsidiaries. The most westerl ye serie cavth f four n o s i excavatee , (Nowa ,1) . mediaa y db n trench, and entrance was made to a second cave in the rear of No. 1. The second (No. 2, or the Reindeer Cave) was completely excavated to e rocth k floord behin an a newl, t i d y revealed cav f considerablo e e dimension s sufficientlwa s y worke n spiti , f greaeo dat t difficultieso t , sho charactee wth deposite nature th th faun a f d ro f eo san a which was represente thein di r upper portions. Lastly r purpose,fo f comparisoso n with the very different deposits found in these caves, a short trial trench was dug in the deposits of the cave partially excavated by Drs Peach Homd an 188n ei 9Bone th (No, e3 . Cave).

SUMMAR RESULTF YO S OBTAINE 1926N DI . containe1 Cav . eNo d deposits very largely compose f cave-earto d h and roo solelcave-earts e fth wa debris n yt i i d han , that relics were found. They consisted of animal bones of species still existing in Scotland, and a single artefact, a portion of a broad iron blade. In the subsidiary cave behind No. 1 were found bones of present-day species of animals, a human femur and again a single artefact, a well-dressed bone haft. The' general aspect of the relics suggests that the upper deposits in this cave were of relatively recent date. Reindeee th r o , 2 Cavn r I . Cave bone-bearineNo o tw , g deposits were discovered—the cave-earth and an underlying slightly rolled gravel. Beneath this, ove re cavebarrea parth y f ,la o tn grave f muco l h more rolled appearance. Durin e accumulatioth g f boto n h bone-bearin- un s g wa serie n ma s doubtedly present. The more recent series, the cave-earth, contained many bones of

1 "The Bone Cave in the Valley of Allt nan Uamh ('Burn of the Caves'), near Inchnadamph, Assynt, Sutherlandshire," Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xxxvii. (1917) pp. 327-49. REPORT ON CAVES CONTAINING PALEOLITHIC RELICS. 171 specie f animalo s s still survivin Scotlandn gi addition i t bu , n there were also bones of bears, and the condition of some of the bones indicates considerable age. In this deposit were found a human skeleton and portion anotherf so lattee th , r whice cave base th s foun f th -hewa o t da earth, having been definitely interred. This is the only formal interment t recordeye d fro ma Scottis h e modcave Th f buriao e. l showed some feature f e interesto skulsth s long-headei d l an , r dolicocephalico d . Tw f peculiao n bonpi ea r implementsformd an l , representeaw n a , d the handiwork of man in this deposit. The older layer of the bone-bearing deposits presented features of great interest. It contained vast numbers of shed antlers of young reindeer, mostly broken, representing over four hundred individual deer. Along with these bones were remains of several other members of an mostArctie th r cnumerousfa reindeee faunay th b thit n s o sbu , d rwa an , account the cave has been named the Reindeer Cave. No human interment was found in the reindeer gravel, but there was clear evidence of the presence of man, indicated by a simple reindeer horn implement humanl y scratched b , an t ycu d reindeer antlersy b d ,an fragment f charcoalso . The evidence derived fro bone mth e geologicae th relic d san l evidence poin thio t s deposit having been re-sorte cavstreae a th y eb n di m (prob- abl ya seasona l strea f melt-watermo ) which flowed alon e margigth n or off the surface of a valley glacier, the surface of which stood about the level of the caves. The strong indications, therefore, conveyed by the nature of the statfauna the fossilisatio geologicaeof the by , bonesby the lof nand , evidence are that we are dealing here with one of the periods in the Tipper Paleolithic series, certainly belonging to Magdalenian or earlier times. Lac f artefactko f culturao s l significance prevents more definite decision in the meantime. Behind the Reindeer Cave, and entirely blocked to access till the removal f muco h material narro a allowe f o y w f entrd o verticawa y yb l descending a cavshaft s e wa ,(No . 2A. f considerableo ) dimensionst I . contained deposits of glacial silt with a lenticular layer of well-rounded and polished pebbles. These deposits apparently point to an earlier period, whe e limestonnth e bluf whicn i f e cavhth e s almosliewa s r whollo t y under the ice-field. The superficial eighteen inches of the deposits here contai bonew fe f reindeer o sna e lonth gf o ,extinc t cave-bear (Ursus spelatuif), Arctic fox, etc. This association represents an Arctic fauna not hitherto found in Scotland, which was probably present during an interglacial period preceding the recurrence of the valley glaciers of the final ice epoch. 172 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUARY 14,, 1927.

INFORMATIOW NE N GAINED. (1) More definite informatio bees nha n gained regardin glaciatione gth of this part of Sutherland. perioe e earl(2th Th ) f ydo fauna with human association s beeha s n more definitel bees y fixedha nd throwan , n fina e bacth lo kt valley-glacie r stage of the Ice Age. (3) The numbers of reindeer antlers found in a limited space are remark- able ; an accumulation of such a nature has not hitherto been found in t remembeno o d Britaine w parallea r d an , l cas Continene eveth n no t of Europe. (4) For the first time evidence of the presence of paleolithic man in Scotlan bees dha n found. (5) For the first time the Arctic fauna of the cave-bear and Arctic bees foxha n foun Scotlandn di .

FUTURE EXCAVATIONS. The value of the discoveries made during the past summer, and the facts (1) that there is still much field for exploration in the series of caves tha ) e cultura(2 ;th t l palaeolithie stagth f eo c people stils b eo ha lt defined; and (3) that the newly discovered cave-bear interglacial fauna is still scantily known, points to the need for further investigation. This we propos carro et t durinyou summee gth presene th f ro t year. We have to acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr Morrison, Inchna- damph Hotel, for the kind assistance he rendered to us in many ways durin excavationse gth .