THE RITUAL OF BARROWS AND CIRCLES. 239 



does not preclude the possibility of a previous disposal of the 

 body. 



Mr. Cyrus Thomas, in his report on Mound Explorations in 

 North America * says : " From personal examination, I conclude 

 that some, if not most of the 'folded' [contracted] skeletons 

 found in mounds were buried after the flesh had been removed, 

 as the folding, to the extent noticed, could not have been done 

 with the flesh on ; and the positions in most cases, with the 

 knees brought up against the breast, and the heels against the 

 pelvis, were such as could not possibly have been assumed as a 

 result of the decay of the flesh, or of the settling of the mound. 

 In other cases, the partial calcining of the bones, in vaults [cists] 

 and under layers of clay, where the evidence shows that fire was 

 applied to the outside of the vault, or above the clay layers, can 

 be accounted for only on the supposition that the flesh had been 

 removed before burial." 



Some archaeologists have adopted the view that the primary 

 disposal of the dead was by way of cannibal feasts. That before 

 burying their chieftain his followers devoured his flesh, and the 

 flesh of slaughtered members of his family. And that this was 

 done, partly from a relish for the food, and partly from a notion 

 that the admirable qualities of a defunct person are acquired by 

 those who eat him. 



And reliance is placed, by these archaeologists, on the words 

 of Diodorus the Sicilian, who had travelled in parts of Europe 

 and Asia, and wrote his history eight years before the Christian 

 era. And these words are: "The Gauls that live towards the 

 north, and bordering upon Scythia, are so exceeding fierce and 

 cruel that, as report goes, they eat men like the Britons that 

 inhabit Iris [Ireland]." It is certain that Diodorus never went 

 to Ireland, and he wrote these words, as he admits, merely from 

 rumour. But as regards the inhabitants of Britannia itself, he 

 says " They are of much sincerity and integrity, far from the craft 

 and knavery of men among us ; contented with plain and homely 



* Bureau of Eth. 1890-1. p. 674. 



