EGGARDUN HILL. 35 



indicates an historical fact which has hardly received the 

 attention it deserves. These hill-top forts were camps of 

 refuge, needed to save from extermination tribes that were 

 waging ruthless war against one another. They were not 

 needed after the establishment of the " Roman peace." See 

 how this is confirmed by the Roman roads. From Bokerly 

 Dyke the Ackling Dyke (a continuation of the Icknield Via) 

 points straight to Badbury Rings. It may well have been 

 made in connection with the reduction of that British fortress. 

 But having served this end, it does not enter Badbury Rings. 

 This is not worth doing. A little north of the place the road 

 divides, one branch passing east of the camp and going to the 

 sea at Hamworthy, the other part turning west and entering 

 Dorchester, which was worth entering, and leaving it to strike 

 further west over the downs and bring up the legions and 

 their supplies to attack the camp on Eggardun Hill. But 

 when this camp was taken, the Romans had no use for it, 

 and the road leaves it on one side and goes on its way to 

 Bridport and Exeter. The Roman occupation of Britain was 

 indeed a blessing to those who dwelt in the land. The slight 

 hexagonal embankment in the centre of the camp is a modern 

 enclosure made with the idea of sheltering young trees. 



One final word about the " magic " stone which Dr. Colley 

 March found in one of the pit-dwellings which we explored, 

 and on which he wrote an appendix to our report. In recent 

 years fresh discoveries have added to our knowledge of magic 

 stones found in this and other countries. The key to their 

 meaning seems to be furnished by the totemism of a tribe in 

 Central Australia. The " cup-and-ring " markings, of which 

 we have an example at Came near Dorchester, the circular 

 and spiral scrolls and other devices, inscribed on stones worn 

 as amulets, were the heraldic devices of those days, identifying 

 the tribe, if not the individual, and determining the totem of 

 a new-born baby. The subject has no very close connection 

 with Eggardun Hill, but it indicates a line of investigation 

 which is being actively pursued, and which may any day yield 

 interesting and important results. 



