332 Examination of Barrows on 



years since, nearly a bushel of burnt ashes had been accidentally 

 discovered, under a large sarsen stone in this barrow. 



A few barrows, which have been opened on the Downs of South 

 Wiltshire, may also be noticed. Near West Everley, on the south 

 side of the road to Andover, and about a mile to the west of the 

 village, are three low barrows in a ploughed field, which were 

 opened in 1853. Nothing was found in the two smaller; but in 



25. the third and central mound, which was between three 

 and four feet in height, was a small deposit of burnt bones, some 

 charcoal and a small bit of soft reddish pottery. 



On the down, about a mile to the north of those last described, 

 and close to the track between Pewsey and Everley, are two very 

 fine bell-shaped barrow3 placed close to each other ;* and in front 

 of these, one disc-shaped, or so called, "Druid's" barrow, and behind 

 and to the north, a small mound, probably not sepulchral, both of 

 which last were dug into, without result. 



26. Tbe most eastern of the bell-shaped barrows is upwards of 

 thirteen feet in elevation; and in this, in a slight cist scooped out of 

 the chalk, was a large deposit of burnt bones, probably those of a 

 man, unaccompanied by urn, weapons, or ornaments; and proving, 

 as Sir Richard Hoare often found, that " we must not judge of the 

 contents by the form of a barrow. Front i nulla fides."' 2 The up- 

 per part had been used in later times for a secondary interment ; 

 the skeleton of a tall man being met witb, about a foot from the 

 summit, laid at full length and with the head to the south. The 

 arms were close to the sides of the skeleton; the thigh bones 

 measured nineteen and a half inches. The skull has an ovoid form, 

 the crowns of the teeth are flatly eroded ; and, notwithstanding the 

 discovery of a few fragments of coarse Roman pottery close by, the 

 interment may be attributed to the Anglo-Saxon period. 



27. The more western barrow is not quite so high as the eastern. 

 At the depth of about eleven and a half feet, was a heap of burnt 

 bones, apparently those of a man ; and with these a small bronze 



1 These fine barrows are not referred to by Sir Richard Hoare, in his account of 

 the tumuli of this district. They are close to the south side of the "very per- 

 feot oblong earthen work," described by him. Ancient Wilts, vol. i. p. 190. 

 » Tumuli Wiltun. p. 23. Ancient Wilts, vol. i. pp. 46, 166, 210. 



