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over the bodies of Northumbrians, and are no part of the result 

 of the fight at Stamford Bridge. The despair of the northmen 

 and haste of the Englishmen would not allow them to wait to 

 set out, by the cardinal points, square fossae, within which to 

 raise sepulchral mounds; and again, had such a host been 

 buried in this manner traces far more distinct of interment than 

 those found would have appeared. But on the assumption, 

 that here was located an early British settlement on the out- 

 skirts of the Forest of Galtres, all is clear. The sandy hill is 

 the stronghold — the dykes are lines of defence — the enclosure, 

 with openings on its sides, becomes an ancient cattle enclosure ; 

 the oval rings on its margin are herdsmen's huts ; the other 

 rings are bases of dwellings ; and the tumuli are the peaceful 

 repositories of the peasants, among whose few bones neither 

 weapons of war nor instruments of chase were wasted. That 

 it was a British rather than Anglo-Saxon settlement may be 

 decided from the fact that the latter people interred in large 

 heaps rather than separate tumuli; and at Arras, amid the 

 numerous British tumuli which exist at that place, is one with 

 a similar square fossa, 45 feet by the side, and set nearly by 

 the cardinal points. 



