170 YORKSHIRE. EAST RIDING. 



XXV. The second barrow, 60 yds. north-east of that just described, 

 was 100 ft. in diameter, 2J ft. high, and was made of sand. Just 

 south of the centre was a deposit of burnt bones, those of a child not 

 much above ten years of age, laid in a round heap, 1 -| ft. in diameter, 

 upon the natural surface ; a piece of calcined flint was amongst the 

 bones. At the centre was found an oval grave, lying north-west 

 by south-east, 4 ft. by 3J ft., and 2^ ft. deep. On clearing this 

 grave out, a very novel feature presented itself. It had been sunk 

 in a bed of clay, and at the north-west end five short stakes, and at 

 the opposite end six, had been driven in. Upon the supports thus 

 furnished it seemed as if a platform of wood had rested, the 

 remains of which, in the shape of a dark-coloured deposit (proved 

 by analysis to be of vegetable origin), covered the bottom of the 

 grave. Upon this platform the body had been placed, and the 

 purpose of this unusual provision for supporting the body may have 

 been to keep it out of tile wet, which would be likely to accumulate 

 in a grave dug in so retentive a material as the clay at the place. I 

 must recall attention to the fact that the graves on the wolds are, in 

 most cases, hollowed out in the chalk, which is quite sufficiently 

 provided with means of natural drainage to allow water to run 

 freely through it ; and, as a rule, the body seems to have been laid 

 on the chalk-floor of the grave without the introduction of anything 

 except the clothes of the buried person. In the present case, how- 

 ever, the sides of the grave also had been lined with planks, the 

 impression of which was left on the clay to a degree sufficient 

 to enable me to secure an accurate cast. The stakes themselves 

 were entirely decayed, leaving only a small quantity of dark- 

 coloured matter at the bottom of each hole ; and thus there was no 

 difficulty in obtaining a cast, in plaster-of-Paris, from a mould so 

 novel, exactly reproducing the form and dimensions of the stake as 

 originally driven into the clay. The stakes had been made out 

 of small trees, about 3 in. in diameter, and were 14 in. long, of 

 which length 10 inches had been driven into the clay and 4 inches 

 left protruding. The ends had been brought to a point by four 

 cuts, which are so cleanly made and after so workmanlike a fashion, 

 that not only must a metal axe I think have been used, but used 

 by a man to whom the art of wood-cutting was familiar. The 

 length of the cut surfaces is 7 inches, and the stakes had been 

 brought to a very sharp point. The series or row of stakes, five in 

 number, at the head of the grave reached over a width of 1 ft. 8 in., 

 while the six at the foot occupied a space of 2J ft. In the grave, 



