PARISH OF UPPER SWELL; GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 531 



undue stress upon the presence or absence of these peculiarities 

 as indications of the age of any of the interments, A left ulna and 

 a right radius from this collection of bones show badly-united frac- 

 tures. With the human bones were found bones of the roe {Cervus 

 cajyreolus) and the patella of an ox. 



Two more skulls, labelled 'A' and 'B' respectively, were found 

 at the E.S.E. end of the trench-grave, holding much the same 

 relation to aggregations of other bones as those held by skulls 

 '4 a' and '4 i ' to the bones in their immediate neighbourhood. Skull 

 ' A,' which bears a considerable resemblance to the skull ' No. 2,' 

 and, like it, belonged probably to an old woman, was found in a 

 fragmentary state only 8 in. below the surface, whilst underneath 

 lay, in a space of 3 ft. 8 in., a confused mass of bones — lower jaw, 

 ulna, femur, radius, all disturbed — representing two children and 

 two adults by bones other than lower jaws ; whilst by reference to 

 these we find three adults and one child represented. About a foot 

 and a half from the skull ' A,' but at a deej)er level, another skull, 

 ' B,' likewise the skull of an old woman, but of larger size, was 

 found, illustrating the fact that one female skull from these early 

 burials often is very much larger than another found in the same 

 surroundings. With the skull ' B ' came an elbow-joint, the three 

 bones composing which were much deformed by exostosis, the result 

 of disease or violence ; as also a right clavicle, which had been 

 fractured and repaired with a false joint. In the space between 

 skulls 'A" and ' B ' and that occupied by the bones labelled ' 3 ' and 

 ^4' were found, above ' B,' parts of a vessel of rude pottery. With 

 the skull and bones labelled ' A ' came bones of pig, roe, and goat. 



This is a very short account of the remains of at least eleven 

 skeletons found in the S.E. half of the grave-trench; nearly as 

 many, eight to wit, were found in the W.N.W. half. The first of 

 these, 'No. 5,' is represented by a long calvaria, much worn and 

 somewhat distorted, of an aged man ; immediately underneath which 

 one thigh bone was found, and three others below this one. With 

 the deepest lying of these three femora, a tibia also was found. The 

 arrangement of the bones and stones in this half of the trench- 

 grave differed somewhat from that in the other, in that the bones 

 were more completely separated from each other by the interpo- 

 sition of the layers of the stones. It seems likely, considering this 

 arrangement, together with the tendency usually shown in ancient, 

 as indeed in modern interments, to bury so that the rays of the 

 sun may strike directly upon the grave, that the north-west portion 



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