881 



minent, aa compared with the Greenlander. The upper jaw is vertical and the chin well 

 developed. 



Presented by Prof. Eschricht. 



5712. A skull of an ancient inhabitant of Britain, from a tumulus near York. 



The cranium presents a subelongate oval form, with a narrow and moderately elevated 

 forehead. The parietal protuberances are not well marked. The occiput is rounded and 

 convex. The malars are vertical, and are not prominent. The upper jaw is slightly pro- 

 duced. The chin is well marked. 



The following is from the Abstract of the Donor's Memoir on the collection of remains 

 to which the present skull belonged, communicated to the ' Yorkshire Philosophical 

 Society' : 



" The skeletons are those of persons of both sexes ; but those of adult males appear to 

 preponderate. A few skeletons of children, and a few bones of decidedly old persons, were 

 also found. The teeth are uniformly much worn down, as if from the use of food of the 

 coarsest and hardest kinds. This condition of the teeth is very characteristic. The skulls 

 are generally small, and their prevailing shape is elongated and partially pyramidal ; the region 

 of the forehead being decidedly narrow and low. In addition to the human remains, there 

 have been found numerous bones of animals, and particularly those of a small ox, the Bos 

 longifrons of Owen. These were found in the immediate neighbourhood, and almost in con- 

 tact with human bones and skeletons. Some bones of the horse and of a deer were also found. 

 Several rude iron nails, and numerous pieces of clumsy iron bar, bent at a right angle, some 

 of them perforated by nails and covered with a very thick rust, were also discovered. The 

 most probable opinion respecting these is that of their having formed the fastenings of coffins, 

 in which the bodies had been deposited. Several small pieces of decayed wood were likewise 

 found. Two or three fragments of tile, evidently Roman, were found at a depth of about ten 

 feet in the centre of the tumulus. These were accompanied by two or three pieces of Samian 

 ware, and a few fragments of coarse earthenware, covered with a green glaze. In the very 

 centre of the hill, on the level of the undisturbed skeletons, a large urn was discovered. This 

 urn measures twelve inches in height, and has a capacity of three imperial gallons. It is 

 formed of a very hard and coarse ware, of a dirty brick-red colour. Part of the surface is some- 

 what corroded, and presents numerous fragments of broken pebbles and even granite. There 

 was nothing but some clayey soil found in this urn, but it was supposed that it had contained 

 a deposit of burnt bones, which had been scattered when the mound was disturbed. 



" This sepulchral mound is of a very remarkable character, and does not correspond with 

 any of the numerous tumuli or other ancient cemeteries which have been described. It has 

 indeed been a cemetery rather than a barrow. Dr. Thurnam thought it may be properly 

 spoken of as a tumulary cemetery. He referred it to the early Saxon Christians of the 

 seventh or eighth century a period when the burial of the dead was not allowed in towns, 

 and when there was no church-yard within the walls of York." 



Presented by Dr. Thurnam. 

 5u 



