Thirty-one feet from the outside piles towards the south-east, there
was a layer of rough, large stones, marked B on Plate III., about
15 feet long from north to south, and 11 feet broad. Seventeen feet
farther north, and 18 feet from the east side, there was a spade-shaped
platform, with the convex end to the north, about 26 feet in length and
breadth. The Plan shows its appearance in February 1879, with several
pieces of wood flooring towards the east side, and a layer of large
rough stones at A. In October 1880 some of the logs had rotted away,
and others were pierced through by the shoots of the marsh plants,
which are gradually covering the partially drained area. Thirty feet to
the west of A, there was a circular layer of rough stones about 10 feet
in diameter, surrounded by several rings of piles. On removing some
loose dry peat on the east part of A, we found a floor of oak logs,
laid north and south, 10 feet 6 inches in length and 8 feet in breadth.
The surface was somewhat flat; but this may have been caused by
exposure to the weather. The interstices were closely packed with white
clay and the sphagnum moss, so common in our bogs, with a few stakes
driven between them. At the west or inner side of this floor there was
a log 13 feet 6 inches long, 1 foot broad, and 8 inches deep. Beyond it
was a layer of large rough stones from 9 to 12 inches deep, which had
been disturbed by some idle visitors, so that its exact extent cannot
be given. Under the stones was a thin layer of peat, then a log floor
resting on clay and stones, and under that a second floor, the parts
of which were sloping. Under the large oak log already mentioned lay
a few birch logs sloping towards the north-west, and covering at the
left side one angle of a frame 6 feet 6 inches square, made of four
oak beams, that on the south-east side having two square-cut mortise
holes, measuring 6 by 5 inches, and 4 feet apart, and that on the
opposite side having one mortise hole with a piece of the upright still
in it. In the angle between this frame and the south end of the large
log there was a circular hearth of rough stones bedded in clay, and a
similar hearth beyond the north-west angle, where there seems to have
been another square frame without mortises. There were several inches
in depth of ashes, with charred wood, and fragments of bone too small
and wasted to indicate what animal they belonged to. West of the second
hearth the following section was noted in descending series:--
(_a_.) Rough stones, 9 inches.
(_b_.) Peat, 12 inches.
(_c_.) Ashes, 5 inches.
(_d_.) White clay, 3 or 4 inches.
(_e_.) Ashes.
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