66 ANTIQUARIAN INVESTIGATIONS ON DARTMOOR. 



also found imbedded in the cairn. An instance of this occurs on 

 the top of Cawson ; where the cairn though not large, is composed 

 of large stones, and contains a kistvaen of a rectangular outline, 

 formed of granite slabs four or five inches thick . Two corner slabs 

 remain in an erect position, and are joined as closely, and with 

 as much precision, as the unwrought material would permit; the 

 remainder are more or less fallen, and some appear to be wanting. 



Kistvaens are also found in connection with tlie sacred circle, 

 but are more usually observed in a state which may be described 

 as simply placed, i. e. independently of any other relic. Exam- 

 ples of both these kinds occur on Archerton hill. Sometimes they 

 are found in groups as Golden tor, on the brink of Blackabrook, 

 placed around a rock basin. Their general dimensions are three 

 feet three inches long, two feet wide, and two deep. A flat un- 

 wrought stone covers this cell, and in the centre is a round 

 pit, from which, there is good reason for supposing, a cinerary 

 urn has been removed. This group of tombs forcibly recalls the 

 burial places described by Ossian. Here then we have a Druid- 

 ical cemetery ; and that, probably, one where the ashes of the less 

 distinguished dead found a repository; while the warriors and 

 chieftain were honoured by the enormous cairn or barrow, and the 

 Druid slept his long sleep beneath the massive cromlech, within 

 the sacred circle. 



The huts or dwellings of the ancient inhabitants are to be found 

 in every part of Dartmoor, in a state generally very imperfect ; 

 the foundation stones, and those forming the door jambs, being 

 all that remain of these dwellings, with few exceptions. The huts 

 are circular on the plan ; but are at once distinguishable from the 

 sacred circle, which has been already described as consisting of 

 larger stones, placed with considerable intervals, as in these the 

 stones are set on their edge, and placed (closely together, so as to 

 form a secure foundation for the superstructure, whether that tliey 

 were wattle, turf, stone, or other material. These vestiges strik- 

 ingly illustrate the descriptions which Diodorus Siculus and 

 Strabo give of the habitations of the Britons of their times. The 

 former describes them as " poor cottages constructed of wood and 

 covered with straw ;" tlie latter as " wooden houses circular in 

 form, with lofty conical roofs." 



The foundation slabs above-mentioned, generally stand from 

 eighteen to thirty inches above the surface. The door-jambs in 

 most cases higher, placed nearly at right angles to the outline of 

 the circle ; in a very considerable proportion of examples the door 



