THE RITUAL OF BARROWS AND CIRCLES. 241 



Many archaeologists, like Dr. Thurnam, have dwelt upon the 

 fact that interments often contain cleft skulls, and have main- 

 tained that it points to the immolation of victims at the burial of 

 a chieftain. It is well to remember that the bones of aged 

 persons are hardly ever discovered in tumuli. Men, in those 

 days, did not die of old age, but met a soldier's death. What 

 were stone axes for, or weapons of bronze, if not to cleave the 

 heads of the foe. During a midnight raid, a whole family might 

 be butchered as they lay, before the invaders could be driven off. 



It has been amply proved that a dual disposal of the dead was 

 practised throughout western Europe, and in this country and 

 that in many places the custom is continued. But there must 

 have been in early days, some safe and easy method of carrying 

 out the primary disposal, during which the flesh was removed 

 from the bones : some secure places where bodies could be 

 exposed. The surface-dolmen was one of these means. In the 

 case of some of the earliest long-barrows, besides the under- 

 ground galleried chamber, there exists, on the summit, an 

 uncovered dolmen. The West Kennet barrow, and others in the 

 neighbourhood of Avebury, as shown by Stukeley, are examples. 

 On the summit of round-barrows " sometimes of elevated 

 outline, and often with concentric circles on their slopes, 

 dolmens are of frequent occurrence." * And other dolmens are 

 to be seen, notably in Brittany, on the top of conical but natural 

 hillocks, that could never have been covered by earth. Doubtless 

 such erections were used for the required exposure. But surface 

 dolmens are rare and dual disposal was almost universal. There 

 must have been other secure enclosures for the primary treatment 

 of the dead. What are the characters by which such structures 

 can be recognised ? They should be found in the neighbour- 

 hood of barrows and places of interment. They might well be 

 circular in form and strong enough to keep out beasts of prey 

 such as the wolf, the fox, and the bear, f They should display 



* A. J. Evans, megalithic monuments, &c. 

 f Cf, Ecgbert's Penitentials, 



