THE TUMUU OF THE CHALK RANGE. 113 



found to be three eighths of an inch in thickness. Amongst the 

 chalk were found two small pieces of stag's horn, two fragments 

 of British pottery, and a piece of Kimmeridge shale. Burying 

 at a considerable depth was not an unusual practice amongst the 

 Britons. Tradition says of King Arthur, that his body was 

 buried at Glastonbury, " very deep beneath the surface of the 

 ground, in order to place it as effectually as possible beyond the 

 reach of Saxon vengeance :" and although the story itself may 

 not be worthy of credit as regards this legendary King, still 

 acknowledged custom may be claimed for its foundation. But 

 I will refer to more certain data. Sir Richard Colt Hoare men- 

 tions having found a sepulchral deposit as much as fifteen feet 

 deep, and one in particular as being ten feet beneath the level of 

 the surrounding soil. The mode also of burying with the legs 

 gathered up he frequently mentions as occuring in the Wiltshire 

 barrows, in some instances with the hands under the head, 

 which was placed towards the north. This, he "conceived to be 

 the most ancient form of burial," 



He describes also his discoveries of the remains of two distinct 

 races of people in the same barrow ; as, for instance, in one 

 named King barrow, near Warminster, which contained upon 

 the floor burned human bones, fragments of British pottery, &c., 

 and at the top at the depth of eighteen inches, three skeletons 

 were found lying from south west to north east evidently, he 

 says, a subsequent deposit. The mode of burying the body en- 

 tire and extended at full length, he considered to have been of 

 the latest adoption. 



I make these references, from time to time, to discoveries 

 made in other counties and situations, because, without these 

 comparisons, it would be difficult, if not impossible to determine 

 to which of the successive inhabitants of this island may be 

 ascribed the various remains. 



On the twenty-first of November, Mr. Bond kindly acceeded 

 to my request to examine a barrow situated near the lime-kiln, 

 upon that portion of the chalk range called Creech Hill. It 

 measured, in circumference, ninety-seven paces, and was about 

 four feet in height. The trench was conunenced at the south 

 side, where it wds formed of lumps of chalk and earth. Near 

 the centre we discovered a skeleton, at two feet beneath the 



