442 OHver^s Camp, Devizes. 



therefore apparently did not think that they were barrows. Be- 

 cause of this uncertainty about them, and the possibility that they 

 might throw some light on the history of the camp, it was thought 

 advisable to examine them. A trench was cut fi'om the ditch at 

 F thi'ough the southern mound down into the undisturbed chalk. 

 The mound had at some time been much levelled, and the trench 

 embraced practically all that remained of it. No trace of any in- 

 terment could be found, and the mound showed signs of having 

 been dug into from the top. A few worked flints, some fragments 

 of coarse grey Bronze Age pottery, and some sherds of thin red 

 Romano-British ware, were found scattered indiscriminately to a 

 depth of 18in. Below this nothing was found but a few broken 

 flints. The greatest depth to the undisturbed chalk was only 3ft. 



From the evidence of the section exposed it appears probable 

 that the mound was levelled to a great extent after the ditch had 

 silted up. The ditch is shallower here than in any other section, 

 and if the mound had been higher when the ditch was dug, the 

 ditch would then necessarily have appeared deeper. 



The more northerly of the two mounds is a little further out 

 than its fellow from the entrenchment, and its fringe does not 

 reach to the edge of the ditch. Its original diameter seems to have 

 been about 37ft., but the mound has been much defaced. 



Practically the whole of the mound was thrown over down to 

 the undisturbed chalk. There was no sign of a ditch round either 

 of the mounds. 



18in. below the surface and about the centre of the barrow a 

 quantity of charcoal was discovered. This charcoal was contained 

 in what appeared to be a kind of rough hearth, or fire-hole, built 

 up with lumps of chalk. Eound about this fire-hole, as we will 

 call it, a considerable layer of charcoal spread out, covering ap- 

 proximately a space 4ft. in diameter. The layer of charcoal was 

 not concentric with the fire-hole, but spread out more over the 

 eastern side of the mound. The fire-hole was roughly circular 

 and from 14in. to 16in. in diameter, and 12in. deep. The charcoal 

 it contained when turned out would have filled a large sized bucket. 

 On carefully looking through it, handful by handful (the sieve 



