near Littleton Drew, North Wilts. t7t 
Dr. Wallis of Bristol, at that time a lecturer on anatomy, who 
was present when the skeleton was exhumed, informs us it was 
evidently that of a young man, the sutures of the skull not being 
firmly united. The skull was of full size and well formed, the teeth 
were perfect, the thigh bone measured 18 inches in length, and the 
humerus was of the usual size. In the course of the excavation, 
many scattered pieces of charcoal were thrown out, but nothing 
else was met with. There were traces of two dry walls of loose 
stone having been formed across the barrow; one close to the 
cromlech on the east side, and the other about 60 feet to the west, 
the interment being midway between the two.' 
In the spring of 1854, the existence of a rude cist on the south 
side and near the centre of the barrow, containing several skeletons, 
was brought to light by the plough. Subsequently to this, the 
proprietor of the field, G. P. Scrope, Esq., M.P., has made a very 
complete examination, by which a series of four such cists has 
been discovered. Their position is shewn on the ground-plan. 
They vary a little in form and size, but on the average, are about 
ten feet in length, by four in width, and two in depth. Their 
shape is an irregular oblong, and they are formed of large rough 
flat stones set on edge: there were no covering stones, (though it is 
possible that such may have formerly existed, and been removed 
when the barrow was first subjected to the plough), the cists being 
filled with stone rubble carelessly thrown in; whilst in the spaces 
between the cists and elsewhere, the stones forming the barrow had 
evidently been heaped up by hand. The largest cist nearest to 
the east is within a few feet of the south-west angle of the cromlech, 
and has its long axis placed east and west. The three other cists 
range north and south, and lie somewhat nearer to the edge of the 
barrow and nearly equidistant from each other. In three of these 
1“Gentleman’s Magazine,” vol. XCII., Feb. 1822, p. 16, and MS. letter 
from G. Wallis, M.D., Bristol. 
2 Two of the cists were opened at the time of the Meeting of the Wilts 
Archeological and Natural History Society at Chippenham, in September, 1855; 
on which occasion Mr, Scrope, the President of the Society, entertained a large 
party of the Members at Castle Combe. Mr. Scrope kindly contributes the 
lithographic illustrations. 
Z 2 
