PARISH OF COWLAM. 215 



half of it had however been removed for the purpose of laying the 

 material on the land, but nothing calling for notice had been at 

 that time observed. Still, the natural surface had never been 

 reached, and hence the burials in the part of the mound specified 

 had not been destroyed. It was one of the most prolific barrows in 

 regard to the number of interments that I have opened, and it pre- 

 sented a number of very interesting, though enigmatical, features. 

 In consequence of the removal of the earth down to within a very 

 short distance of the bodies at the part above referred to they were 

 much decayed ; but there was no difficulty in making out how they 

 had been placed, as to all the main particulars, although in some 

 respects, such as the position of the hands and arms, it was not 

 in all cases possible to discover with absolute precision the 

 direction in which they had been laid. About 16 ft. north-west of 

 the centre, and upon the level of the natural surface, was a body, 

 probably of a female past the middle period of life, laid on the left 

 side, with the head to N., the arms standing out from the side and 

 almost parallel with the thigh bones. Close to the fingers and 

 knees, which were near together, was the head of a second body, 

 that of a girl of about 18 years of age, also laid on the left side, 

 with the head to S. ; this body had either been disturbed and re- 

 laid in a sort of rude order, or had been an imperfect skeleton when 

 buried, some of the bones being absent ; which may be accounted 

 for, not on the ground of decay, but either from their not having 

 been replaced with the rest, or from their never having been in the 

 barrow at all. Close to this body were some fragments of pottery, 

 and upon the right femur was placed the tusk of a boar, split and 

 sharpened at the edge by rubbing, and forming what had no 

 doubt served the purposes of a knife x . I have seen similar imple- 

 ments made from boars' tusks, and associated with bronze swords, 

 spear-heads, and the like, which were found in a cave at Heathery 

 Burn, near Stanhope, in the county of Durham. It lay in front of 

 the chest of the first body, and may have been interred with it, 

 although lying on the thigh bone of the other. Below these bodies, 

 a hollow, 3 ft. in diameter and 1 ft. deep, was disclosed, which 

 contained, at a level equidistant from the bottom and the surface, 

 the body of a man between 24 and 30 years of age, laid upon the 



1 Mr. Bateman records the finding of a like article in Derbyshire. ' Upon a pave- 

 ment of thin flat stones ... lay the skeleton of a tall and strongly -built man. . . . 

 Near his feet was the tusk of a large boar, rubbed down on the inner surface to about 

 half the natural thickness/ Ten Years' Diggings, p. 131. 



