20 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 1907 
Sawyer said this burial mound was typical of a number of similar 
mounds, not only in this county, but all over the country, ranging from 
the south of England to as far as Caithness. They were all alike 
in two respects: one, that they were oblong in shape, and the other 
that they were surrounded by a wall, which had one end curved in like 
the mouth of acave. The curving in was well shown here, because 
they were sitting on a part of it. If they went to the long barrow 
(Belas Knap) not far from Charlton Abbot’s, they would see a magni- 
ficent specimen of a horned end, the walling of which consists of 
thin slabs of Stonesfield Slate, beautifully put together. No mason of 
to-day could improve on the work. The people who made these long. 
barrows and were buried in them belonged to the Iberian race. To- 
day their representatives were to be found amongst the Basques 
of Northern Spain. They were men below middle stature, with dark 
hair and dark eyes. All had long skulls; that is to say, they were long 
in proportion to their breadth. These barrows extended all over 
Great Britain. A great many had been opened, and in every case the 
skulls were of the same shape. Another feature to be noticed was that 
in not one of the barrows was found the slightest trace of metal. When 
the barrow of which they were now speaking was opened, a number of 
skeletons were found, and also a few implements and weapons, but 
they were all of stone. The natural inference was that these men 
lived in the Stone Age, an age when metal in this country had not been 
discovered. With regard to the time when they lived there was 
no actual evidence. Attempts had been made to name an approximate 
date, but he agreed with the late Duke of Argyle that when dealing 
with Prehistoric races it was better to speak of time as relative, rather 
than as absolute. It was perfectly certain that the men who made 
these barrows lived long prior to the time of those of the round-barrow 
period, because in the round barrows they frequently came across 
traces of metal. History told them that these Iberian folk were 
pushed northward and westward by a race which invaded England 
from the continent belonging to the Goidelic branch of the Celts. In 
turn the Goidels were pushed away by another swarm of Celts, known 
as the Brythons, and they in their turn were pushed back by the 
Romans. From this they got some slight idea of the immense time 
which must have elapsed since the people were buried in the barrow 
which they had just inspected. Though as a race these Iberians had 
long since disappeared in this country, their descendants were still with 
us, for, as Professor Rhys says, ‘‘ skulls are harder than consonants, 
and races lurk behind when languages slink away.” 
After tea at Nympsfield, the Members returned to Dudbridge in 
ample time to catch the 7.14 p.m. train. 
