was a well-laid hearth of burnt clay, nearly semicircular in shape, 2 feet 4 inches across. Surrounding the hearth and at the same level was a layer of fine white sand, such as is not met with elsewhere upon the site, but forms a natural deposit in one of the adjoining fields, whence it has been carted to Warrington for glass-making in recent years. This artificial deposit of white sand first suggested the idea that these peculiar furnaces were employed in the making of glass.

The furnaces in platform III (plate IX, No. 3, and plate VIII) were of similar dimensions and long oval shape. A hearth of burnt clay, of semicircular shape, laid symmetrically in front of both their openings, was ornamented by a number of rings, 1 inch inside and 1 inch outside diameter, evenly stamped on the soft clay previously to baking.

The finds" on the surface of floor II, and in the vicinity of the three platforms, will now be described and considered as indications of the date, origin, and purpose of the ovens or furnaces.

(1)-A silver "consular" denarius of Augustus. (C. Octavius), damaged by heat, but identified by Mr. Barclay V. Head, F.S.A., of the British Museum, and described thus:-Obv., Head of Venus Rev., Octavius in military costume marching to 1, his right arm extended and holding a spear in his left, CAESAR DIVIF.; found a few feet south-west of the crucible II (which penetrated both floors), at I foot 10 inches below the present surface.

to r.

(2) A second bronze coin of Trajan, blackened by heat, but otherwise in an almost perfect condition: Obv., Radiated bust of emperor to 1., IMP. NERV. TRAIANO AUG. GER. DAC. COS. VIII. Rev., draped female figure standing front, holding a cornucopia in left and a pair of scales in extended right; SPQR. OPTIMO PRINCIPI, SC in field; along with (3) a fragment of an embossed Samian.

bowl, having upright sides ornamented with a figure of Minerva armed in fine relief, found directly underneath the crucible II, at depths of 2 feet 4 inches and 2 feet 6 inches respectively; (4) a bronze ring, plain, inch thick, inch bore (for supporting the handle of a situla ?); (5) a disc of black opaque glass, like obsidian, of plano-convex shape, inch in diameter, inch thick in the middle (plate X, No. 1, fig. 2), found near the northern edge of floor II, along with the ring (4), about 2 feet down; (6) two cusps of molars of wild boar (Sus scrofa), identified by Mr. Wm. E. Hoyle, M.A., director of the Owens College Museum, found about 4 feet down in the clay bedding of the enclosing wall on the west side of floor I ; (7) a large coloured glass bead, of oblate spheroidal shape, 43 inches in circumference, or 1 inch in diameter across what may be termed the equator, and inch through the bore. The body is of semi-transparent pale pea-green glass, ornamented with three inlaid rings, about inch wide, one round the middle of cable pattern, pale blue and bluish white strands alternating, and two at the intermediate zones of opaque white enamel. A photograph of this bead is reproduce d on plate X, No. 1, fig. 12. It was found at a distance of only 3 feet 6 inches south from platform I, and at a depth of 1 foot 6 inches. A somewhat smaller but similarly shaped and ornamented bead, with red, white, and blue strands alternating in the encircling cable, was found in the camp at South Shields; (8) an amorphous lump of copper, 1 ounce in weight; (9) two squarish pieces of lead; (10) a lump of chalk, weighing about a pound, found in the immediate vicinity of platform II, directly over and in contact with one of the enclosed furnaces. It will be observed that these are all three materials

and 4 inches in diameter, through the wall of the clay platform at right angles, by which the molten metal was drawn off, as evidenced by its calcined interior lining. The purpose for which the hearth. was employed is proved by the discovery of a much oxidised strip of iron deeply imbedded in a crack along the middle line of the trough near the exit, where it had doubtless lain since the last charge was smelted; and by the discovery of a mass of red hæmatite ore, of several pounds weight, in the clay platform of an earlier furnace, existing partly underneath the former and partly along its edge, whence the mass had apparently fallen. The results of analysis of the iron strip by Mr. Ruddock are the following:

In his opinion this specimen was a pure variety of soft iron made from magnetic ore or red hæmatite, and purified from cast iron. as such a low percentage of carbon would have been practically impossible if made direct from the ore in this rude

furnace.

Crucible Furnace (II).-Twelve feet westward from the iron smelting hearth II, just described, on the surface of the same clay floor and at the same level (1 foot below the sod), there was a circular hearth 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, surrounding the mouth of a pit or crucible of cylindrical shape, I foot 8 inches in diameter and I foot 3 inches deep. This was of the same shape, and had evidently been employed for the same purpose as the smaller crucible in smithy hearth I, namely, for purifying

or decarbonising impure iron by means of a charcoal fire driven by an artificial blast, and producing lumps of soft malleable iron or "blooms" for hammering. The surrounding surface and interior. lining of the crucible were calcined, and the clay underneath reddened by long exposure to intense heat. The blanched appearance of the former caused it to become known as the "white hearth."

Beds of Cinder and Charcoal.-Between the clay floor and the via, in the angle of the enclosing wall, there was a layer, 9 feet wide, of the black glossy cinder produced in the purification of iron, a specimen of which was found, on analysis by Mr. Ruddock, to be essentially silicate of iron; and adjoining the layer of cinder on the east side the soil was blackened by spent charcoal over an area about 4 feet in diameter. The following are the relics of Romano-British origin with which these deposits were impregnated :—(1) a large iron nail, of inch square section, 9 inches in length, with a round head 2 inches in diameter; (2) a strip of iron inch to inch wide, inch thick, perforated at one end; (3) the figure of an animal, possibly a rude representation of the wild boar of the 20th Legion, formed of sheet lead about inch thick; (4) two small strips of sheet lead of about the same thickness; (5) a fragment of a common black smoke-tinted unglazed earthenware olla, (resembling Upchurch ware), with a hole about inch across, wastefully patched with a plug of lead weighing 2 ounces, projecting on both sides-(this leaden plug indicating, not the high value attached to the black pot, but the abundance of lead in the locality)-(6) an ordinary melon-shaped ribbed bead, of grey vitreous paste, coated with blue glaze,

inch in diameter, and inch bore; (7) the broken half of a similar bead; (8) a first bronze coin of Trajan, much corroded, found at a depth of 2 feet