Welsh Journals

RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION AND DISCOVERY IN GLAMORGAN: I. PREHISTORIC GLAMORGAN AT Minchin Hole, Gower, during the summer of 1957 Messrs. J. G. Rutter and E. J. Mason continued their excavations in the Pleistocene deposits in the outer half of this great cavern, assisted by Miss G. Groom and Dr. D. Maling of the University College of Swansea. Good progress was made in the extension of a trench to the cave mouth and a shaft nine feet deep was sunk at the latter point without reaching the cave floor. A considerable quantity of Pleistocene bones and teeth were obtained, including further remains of rhinoceros these are now being studied by Mr. L. F. Cowley of the Depart- ment of Zoology, National Museum of Wales. So far no man-made implements have been found. No outstanding discoveries of stone implements were recorded during the year, but an interesting bronze implement, reputedly of Glamorgan provenance, has been brought to notice, though not a recent discovery. This is a bronze flat axe with hammered flanges and a slight cross-bar to assist in hafting, with a decoration of irregular horizontal tooled lines, covering most of each face, in a manner chiefly characteristic of flat or flanged axes of Irish origin (Early Middle Bronze Age, c. 1 500-1200 B.C.). This was handed over recently to the National Museum of Wales by the Borough of Gillingham (Kent) on the reorganisation of their museum. It had been presented to the Gillingham Museum about 1937 and was said by its donor to have been dug out of one of the banks of Cardiff Castle. This account must clearly be received with caution, although there is nothing incredible in it and related decoration appears on some other axe-heads of the same period from Wales.