PARISH OF RUDSTONE. 239 



slabs of stone like those first named. The sides of the grave, it 

 should be remarked, appeared to have been plastered in the same 

 way as those of the cutting above it, and presented a similar smooth 

 surface. 



The cists ran through the middle of the grave in a direction 

 north-north-west by south-south-east ; and the ends of the cists 

 were in contact with the sides of the grave. The first cist, or that 

 to the north, was 3 ft. 10 in. long by .2 ft. 1 in. wide, and 1 ft. 8 in. 

 deep ; it was formed of one slab on the east side, 4 ft. 7 in. long, one 

 on the west, 4J ft. long, and two end slabs, each of a length rather 

 exceeding the width of the cist ; it had two slabs on the bottom, 

 one 2 ft. 10 in. long, the other 1 ft. 2 in. ; while the cover-stone 

 was rather larger than the area of the cist, only, as it was broken 

 in pieces in the effort of raising it, the exact dimensions could not 

 be taken. The same also must be said of the cover of the second 

 cist. Between the two cists was a space of 10 in. in width, the 

 boundary of which on the one side was formed by the east side- 

 stone of the first cist, on the other by the west side-stone of the 

 second cist. This cist was 3 ft. 8 in. long by 2 ft. 7 in. wide, 

 and 1 ft. 10 in. deep ; it was formed by one slab on the west side, 

 4ft. 11 in. long, one on the east side, 3ft. 10 in. long, and two 

 slabs at each end, overlapping each other ; the bottom was made 

 with one slab, whilst another formed the cover. Over the cists for 

 a depth of 4 in. was a layer of chalk, the rest of the filling-in, as 

 noticed above, consisting of earth. Just above it, at the west and 

 east sides of the south end of the cover of the second cist, though 

 not actually in contact with it, were two large water-rolled pebbles 

 of whinstone, of a reniform shape, but still further adapted for the 

 affixing of a handle, or for being the more readily held in the hand, 

 by having a part of their substance carefully chipped away about 

 the middle. The edges of these chipped places have been ham- 

 mered to make them smooth ; either to prevent their injuring the 

 hand, if intended to be used in that way, or else to preserve the 

 fastening of the handle from being abraded, if the intention was 

 to facilitate their use by such an appendage. They weigh respec- 

 tively 7 Ib. 4 oz. and 5 Ib. 6 oz. 1 In the first cist, at the south 



1 Mr. George Petrie met with more than one instance in Orkney where a somewhat 

 similar stone implement was placed at the end of cists containing skeletons ; in one of 

 these cases a vase was associated with the body. Proc. Soc. of Ant. of Scotland, 

 vol. vii. p. 135. Mr. Anderson, in a paper on the excavation of cairns in Caithness, I. c., 

 vol. ix. p. 294, says, < The bottom of the cist and the two end stones had been roughly 

 dressed to fit, by blows applied along the edges of the slabs on opposite sides. On the 



