taken out of Pit LXXIII. Specimens found at Bar Hill had had a length of about 6 inches.
Among larger objects may be mentioned a yoke from Pit XXI. Unfortunately, owing to the softness of the wood, it has suffered in drying. The illustration (Plate LXIX., Fig. 1) was taken from a drawing made at the time of its discovery. The original measures 23 inches in length. The central portion forms a solid rectangular block, 13 inches in length and 3 inches thick by 23⁄8 inches wide, hollowed on the lower side to adapt it for placing on an animal's neck. The ends consist of thinner, flatter projections, 5 inches in length, having circular holes bored in them. The object of these holes was doubtless to admit the ends of a piece of bent wood which formed a loop or collar for the neck and held the whole in position. A portion of some pliable stem was in all probability used for the purpose; in fact, when the yoke was found, one of the ends of this wooden collar still remained in the hole.
Barrels
Wooden barrels came from Pits XCIV and XCVI. They had been utilised there for well-linings, but it was evident that this was not their primary purpose. Each pit contained a whole barrel and a half barrel. In Pit XCIV the whole barrel was uppermost, while in Pit XCVI the order was reversed. The barrel in Pit XCIV was made of pine, as indeed were all the rest. It had stood 6 feet 6 inches high, and its interior diameter was about 2 feet 8 inches at the ends, increasing in the middle to 3 feet 3 inches. It was formed of 17 staves, each about 7 inches wide and 1 inch in thickness. At either end of the staves there was a well-defined groove for the reception of the head and bottom. The remains of five wooden hoops, seemingly made of birch, still clung to the upper half of the barrel. Those lower down had disappeared. It was plain that at one time the barrel had served yet another purpose, as a large opening, 17 inches long by 2 feet wide, had been cut in the side, in place of the ordinary bung-hole, suggesting that it had perhaps been used as a cistern. When it came to be utilised for the well, the hole had been boarded up by placing between it and the surrounding clay several of the staves which had formed the bottom. These proved that the bottom had been held together by means of wooden dowels, like those employed in the manufacture of modern barrels. One of the casks in Pit XCVI had an iron hoop. Otherwise the character and dimensions were similar to those of that just described. The bungs of small casks or of amphorae were not uncommon; they were usually of pine wood.
312