PARISH OF RAVENSTONEDALE. 393 



Were the bodies those of a mother and her infant children ? It 

 is not unlikely. It has been asserted by some writers that the 

 bodies of infants were never burnt, facts do not however support 

 that view in its integrity, yet we have in this instance the un- 

 burnt bodies of infants accompanying- the burnt remains of an 

 adult. The bone ornament, or whatever else it may have been, is 

 not only an unusual but an interesting article, and seems to show 

 that the powers of ornamentation as exhibited by these people 

 were but limited, and that they had made no great advancement 

 in art. Though it may be said that the pattern is one equally 

 appropriate for fictile vessels and for such an object as this in 

 question, yet I think we might have looked for some different 

 application of ornament to productions so dissimilar as a vase of 

 pottery and a bead of bone. That these people had made some, 

 and that a decided, progress in cultivation is shown in many ways 

 and by divers productions of their skill, nor can it be denied that 

 art had been developed amongst them beyond a mere rudimentary 

 effort; yet it is certain that they had not advanced to the same 

 point in these matters (and if so, then probably not in others) 

 as had the inhabitants of France, Switzerland, Germany, and 

 Denmark, when those people were passing through a somewhat 

 similar stage of progress. 



If it were certain that the oblong bead was made of true jet, 

 we should have had in it evidence of traffic, through one channel or 

 other, between these dwellers amongst the hills of Westmoreland and 

 the inhabitants of other, though not very distant, parts of Britain, 

 and that they were not so isolated, in what must then have been a 

 very wild and inaccessible country, as we might at first sight have 

 imagined. That a considerable and constant intercourse was at 

 that time kept up between places far apai't we have in many ways 

 very sufficient proof; the wide diffusion of implements and weapons 

 of flint would indeed alone show it conclusively, still eveiy ad- 

 ditional fact has its value and must not be overlooked. 



Parish of Ravenstonedale. Ord. Map. xcviii. n.e. 



CLXXVII. Upon the common belonging to the parish of 

 Ravenstonedale, and situated about two miles to the south-west 

 of the last described cairns, a single barrow remained, apparently 

 quite undisturbed. It stood on a piece of ground called Hardrig, 



