By William Long, Esq^. 163 



3. The disc-shaped barrow. " The disc-shaped barrow consists 

 of a circular area, on the same level as the surrounding" turf, gen- 

 erally about a hundred feet in diameter, though sometimes much 

 less, and sometimes nearly double this size.^ The inclosed area is 

 surrounded by a ditch with a bank on the outside, both very regularly 

 formed. In the centre there is usually a small mound of very slight 

 elevation, not more than one foot in height; sometimes there are 

 two, or even three, such mounds, corresponding to so many sepul- 

 chral deposits. So insignificant are these central mounds that they 

 are scarcely recognized as tumuli by the casual observer. These 

 barrows are more common around Stonehenge than in any other 

 part of Wiltshire ; and in other parts of England are of very in- 

 frequent occurrence. As compared with the bell-shaped they are 

 probably of more recent invention, being more uniformly connected 

 with the rite of cremation. The interments, with scarcely an ex- 

 ception, consist of the burnt remains, deposited in small dished 

 graves scooped out in the chalk rock, and hardly ever inclosed in 

 urns. Of the thirty-six disc-shaped barrows, of the exploration of 

 which there are details, thirty-five contained interments after cre- 

 mation.' In thirteen of this number there were beads and other 

 ornaments of amber, glass, and jet, often in such profusion as to 

 justify the conclusion of Sir Richard Hoare that they are the burial- 

 places of women ; especially as such objects are rare in the bowl- 

 shaped barrows, and still more so in those of bell-shape. This 

 attribution is confirmed by the uniformly small size of the bronze 

 blades, probably those of two-edged knives, found in at least four of 

 these barrows.^' 



' One at Woodyates has a diameter of more than 190 feet ; and another, at 

 Idmiston, reaches 194 feet. See Ancient Wilts, i., 217, 238. 



"^ In four instances only, out of thirty-six, were there unequivocal signs of 

 urn-burial in the place of primary interment. Whether with or without a cen- 

 tral mound, this form of barrow has often proved unproductive to the exca- 

 vator. 



In No. 33, however, which had no elevation in the centre, Sir R. Hoare's 

 workmen hit upon the place of interment, and at the depth of two feet found a 

 circular cist, containing a deposit of burnt bones, together with beads of glass, 

 stone, and amber. 



M 2 



