15 
not of Roman work, might have dated from the later ages of 
the Danish invaders or the British kingdom of Strathclyde. 
But when the mound was explored in 1742, and a trench dug 
through the centre, though there were clear signs of its artificial 
character, yet nothing was found in it—no coins, no urn, nor 
anything to indicate a human burial place. The bones of some 
animals were found, together with a few wood ashes; these are 
probably the remains of a dedicatory sacrifice, and their presence 
fits in perfectly with another explanation of the purpose of the 
place—with the new theory which I have now to suggest. 
The general surface of the field in question is not at all level 
naturally, being the ridge of a hill which slopes downwards and 
with some regularity, on every side except on the north-east where 
it adjoins the camp. But about the middle of the field we suddenly 
come across a space which is perfectly level, somewhat in the shape 
of a square. It looks like some prehistoric cricket ground: in 
fact, the level is so perfect that a few years ago a local club wanted 
it for their pitch, and boys even now use it for their improvised 
cricket games. It is the only level spot on the whole hill, and 
can hardly be natural. Moreover, one can see plainly where the 
ground on the east side has been sharply cut away out of the 
natural slope; and again on the opposite side, where the made 
earth ends abruptly. One suspects that this level clearing must © 
have had some relation with the mound that rises about the middle 
of its north-west face. If one is artificial then so is the other; 
_ and if both are, the conclusion is hard to evade that both are the 
work of one and the same time and people. Who made them, 
then? Well, who made all the artificial works in this neighbour- 
hood—the mounds and slopes of which our hill-top, from the 
Camp to the Mote, bears such distinct traces? There is no 
record of any settlement here later than Roman-British times. 
The long dim centuries between the destruction of the Station and 
the building of the first farmhouse on the Brow are the Dark 
Ages of our local history; and nothing remains to suggest that 
_ during them the site of the Station was anything but a waste, with 
at most a solitary homestead upon it, The inference is irresistible 
