552 LONG BARROWS. 



been eonsig-ned to the earth much more recently than we must of 

 necessity assume could have been the case in this barrow. 



It is, however, not impossible that the primary place of inter- 

 ment may, notwithstanding that a large part of the mound was 

 examined, have escaped discovery. It may have been placed 

 near to the side at the smaller end of the barrow, as was the case 

 in one of the Gloucestershire barrows [No. ccxxxi] before de- 

 scribed, and so have been passed over; for at the time that I 

 opened the mound my attention was more directed to the wider 

 and higher part, with reference to the place of burial (though I 

 examined the central portion of the smaller end) than a larger ex- 

 perience has since shown me was desirable. 



Some flint chippings, charcoal, burnt stone, and a few charred 

 acorns were met with in the mound. The acorns, by their appear- 

 ance, showed that the barrow must have been erected after they 

 had been shed ; and the probability therefore is, that the construc- 

 tion took place late in the autumn. 



Although nothing was found which could be supposed to have 

 reference to a primary interment, what, there can be little doubt, 

 had been a secondaiy burial, and one probably made long after 

 the throwing up of the mound, occurred at the south end of the 

 barrow, immediately beneath its highest point, and at a distance 

 of 39 ft. from the middle of the longer axis of the mound. This 

 burial had been of an unburnt body, but there was not the smallest 

 trace of bone left. The body had been enclosed in a cist, formed 

 of eight flat stones ; but as these had in part given way, it was 

 impossible to^ ascertain the exact dimensions of the cist; it could 

 not, however, have been quite 4 ft. in length. The slabs of which 

 the bottom was composed were laid 4 ft. above the natural surface. 

 Within the cist was a ^food vessel;' it is in shape like fig. 70, 

 having four perforated ears at the shoulder, and is 5i in. high, 7 in. 

 wide at the mouth, and 3i in. at the bottom. It is ornamented on 

 the inside of the lip with four encompassing lines, and on the out- 

 side with one similar line having below it a band of very short 

 lines inclining to the left. The upper part of the vase for a depth 

 of 2| in. has upon it a pattern formed by alternate series of ver- 

 tical and horizontal lines ; the series of vertical lines (which over- 

 run the ears) being not one-half the breadth of the other series. 

 All the impressions are due to twisted thong. Also within the 

 cist were three flints, one (fig. 163) a very well-formed implement 

 which, although it is rather thick, can scarcely be anything but a 



