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PEEFACE. 



The work now ofTered to the public will be found to contain a 

 record of the examination of above two hundred and thirty sepul- 

 chral mounds^ belonging" to a period before the occupation of 

 Britain by the Romans. A considerable part of many years has 

 been devoted to this examination ; and, I trust I may say with 

 confidence, the facts collected during this process have been care- 

 fully and minutely observed and accurately recorded. 



Though numerous barrows have been opened throughout Britain, 

 but few accounts have been given of what has thus, from time to 

 time, been brought to light. Many have been destroyed by shep- 

 herds and others, from motives of a mere idle curiosity, or in the 

 delusive hope of finding treasure ; still more have been destroyed, 

 under the influence of a curiosity almost as idle, by persons indeed 

 of better education, but who have thought that enough was gained 

 if they found an urn to occupy a vacant place in the entrance hall, 

 or a jet necklace or a flint arrow-point for the lady of the house 

 to show, with other trifles, to her guests requiring amusement. 

 Naturally in none of such cases has any record of these openings 

 been preserved, and hence what otherwise might have grown into 

 an almost invaluable collection of facts has been entirely lost to 

 archaeological science. 



Notwithstanding this, however, some extensive series of barrow 

 examinations have happily been undertaken and the results given 

 to the public. Sir Bichard Colt Hoare in his magnificent volumes 

 ' Ancient Wilts ' was the first systematically to explore and publish 

 a most valuable amount of discoveries in that county and some 

 adjoining districts. Mr. Bateman also in Derbyshire, supplemented 

 by Mr. Carrington in Staffordshire and Mr. Buddock in the North 

 Biding of Yorkshire, prosecuted a large number of investigations 



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