ANIMAL BONES IN THE BAftflOWS. 109 



intended for its occupants when alive ; and if any exception is 

 to be taken to this, that the ' drinking cup ' is the only vessel 

 which can possibly come within that limit. I have, however, 

 little hesitation in asserting 1 that it is also sepulchral. 



Vessels have occasionally been met with, associated with inter- 

 ments, which may have been originally domestic, at all events 

 they possess the characteristic features of that kind of pottery. 

 This occurrence is only what might be looked for, and indeed 

 it is surprising that it has not more frequently taken place, 

 It seems to show how rigid was the observance which regulated 

 the character of the vessels deposited with the dead. But, from 

 one cause or another, the occasion must sometimes have arisen 

 when no vase, properly sepulchral, could be obtained, and there- 

 fore a domestic one was made to serve in its stead. The slightest 

 acquaintance with Roman burials will show how common it is 

 to find ordinary household vessels answering to a sepulchral use. 



In the description of the different substances found in barrows, 

 it was mentioned that animal bones (and usually, when they 

 are those which once contained marrow, split open) are met with 

 scattered, here and there, throughout the material of which the 

 mound is formed. It was also said that these are probably 

 the relics of a feast, held either at the time of the burial, or on 

 some subsequent occasion, possibly at its anniversary. They 

 thus represent what may, so far as flesh is concerned, be con- 

 sidered as the food of the people then occupying the wolds. 

 A fact of very considerable importance, concerning the condition 

 and state of civilisation of the early inhabitants of the wolds, is 

 thus established. 



The bones which have been found are those of the ox (bos 

 longifrons) ; of another species of ox, probably a cross between 

 los longifrons and the ur us ; of the pig (sus scrqfa) ; of the goat 

 or sheep, for it is difficult, without the head, to distinguish be- 

 tween the two species ; of the horse (equus cdballus] ; and of the 

 dog (cams famlliaris] ; all of them being domesticated animals. 

 The most frequent bones are those of the ox, followed by those 

 of pig, and then of goat ; the horse and dog being very un- 

 common. Of wild animals, the only bones discovered, and those 

 very sparingly, are of the red- deer (cervus elapkus). That this 

 animal was abundant is shown by the numerous remains of its 

 antlers which have occurred, but though the horn was thus 

 utilised, the flesh seems to have formed but a small item in 



