TUMXJLI OF THE NOBTH DISTRICT. 233 



3. Of a child about 12 years. Foraur very small. Epi- 



physes not united. The Wisdom-teeth seen within the 

 substance of the jaw, but of course not protruded. 



4. From a grave situated to the East of the three former, 



is of a female of probably not less than about 40 years. 

 No measurements of the thigh-bone were taken. 

 The skull rather small. Its Sutures partially oblite- 

 rated — Teeth all in place, very much eroded, leaving 

 emooihly flattened surfaces of crowns. The lower jaw, 

 like those of the immature skeletons, is shallow, and 

 has the ascending ramus placed obliquely. 

 Br. Thumham expresses himself as being ** inclined to 

 think these skuUs to be Anglo-Saxon, of the early Christian 

 period, say the seventh or eighth century, when few churches 

 had been built, and Ecclesiastical cemeteries were scarcely 

 established. 



It is remarkable that, of the half-dozen graves which we 

 examined, the skeletons were either those of women, or very 

 yoimg persons. No ornaments, pottery, or other remains 

 were discovered. 



Leaving for a time the interesting memorieils of by-gono 

 generations, which hitherto have engaged our attention in the 

 sepulchral remains scattered about the Purbeck hiUs, it now 

 becomes my task to commence a series of descriptions of inter- 

 Ineijts, diflPering so much in character from those which have 

 been previously investigated, as to induce the supposition that 

 0iey are the relics of a different race of people, if not of a 

 different age. Judging from my own experience, borne out by 

 the recorded discoveries of other investigators, I should identify 

 them with the aboriginal population of the South-East of 

 Dorsetshire, namely those who inhabited the moors and plains 

 which lie between Poole harbour and the river Stour in one 

 direction, and the riYer Frome and the chalk in the other. 



