95 



particular barrow are so vague however as to incliue one to lay 

 little stress upon their- meaniug until we know more about tliem. 

 There is the evidence of a bell-baiTow with shallow fosse (betwixt 

 the two referred to) which remains to be excavated. On a ueigh- 

 bouiiug height there is the promise of another discovery of the 

 cist type. Pending these and other excavations it would be quite 

 premature to speak in a dogmatic manner about the age and 

 origin of the objects already brought to light — but so far as we 

 know there is no evidence to interfere with the belief, that on 

 the moors above Worsthorne and Extwistle a i^eople of Celtic 

 origin lived in what is known as the Bronze period, which we 

 may take as commencing in Britain about 1,000 years before the 

 Christian Era, and that to-night it is our privilege to look upon 

 their, simple memorials. Whether, as in other pai'ts of the 

 country this stiu'dy and bronze-using race of the round-headed 

 type drove from our moors their weaker long-headed predecessors 

 of the stone age, there is no evidence to show — but, with the 

 presence of flints, we need not despair of assembling on some 

 future occasion to discuss the indications of Neolithic man. 

 There is in my opinion nothing before us to justify our claiming 

 a date for " the oldest inhabitant " earlier than about 500 years 

 before the Christian Era. It must be borne in mind that in a 

 country covered by forests and unbisected by large streams as 

 Great Britain was long after the period we are dealing with, 

 tribes living at what we now consider short distances from each 

 other, might be practically isolated and be somewhat late in 

 coming in contact with those agencies of civilization by which 

 we are accustomed to settle their chronological position. There 

 are certainly no evidences whatever of any contact with the 

 Romans in the remains referred to. Considering that there are 

 indisputable evidences of the presence of the Eomans all around 

 the site of the discoveries, the absence of coins is strong evidence 

 of a Pre-Roman origin. 



In conclusion Mr. Waddington observed:— I have been careful 

 to confine myself to a simple unadorned tale of such local 

 evidences as we are all at present in possession of, and I have 

 tried to avoid sensational explanations as to the origin and pur- 

 pose of these memorials, believing with Dr. Evans that "nothmg 

 probably has done more to bring the science of antiquity into 

 discredit, than the rash and visionary speculations for which these 

 memorials have so often supplied the occasion." I trust that the 

 result of this evening's discussion will be the institution of system- 

 atic investigation of aU remaining sites likely to yield additional 

 evidence, and that this Club will take its proper share in the 

 work and responsibilities attendant upon so laudable yet so 

 arduous an enterprise. 



Mr. Tattersall Wilkinson said that it was difficult to get at the 

 correct age, having no historical data for theii- guidance, but he 



