fowke] 



ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATTOI<rS 



27 



vertical; so it would appear that they were not placed thus inten- 

 tionally but had settled irregularly. Probably they had formed the 

 coverino; of a pen or vault, of poles or timbers, in which a body had 

 been placed. 



Close to these inclined slabs, near the north wall of the vault, was 

 the effigy pipe shown in figure 3. It is made of a fine-grained sand- 

 stone and seems intended to represent a buzzard with an exaggerated 

 tail, though the beak is more like that of a crow. This' specimen lay 

 between two flat rocks which were separated by a little earth and 

 gravel, but there were no traces of bone with it or near it. 



At a slightly lower level than the pipe were several flat stones 

 standing at various angles. When these were removed there were 

 found fragmentary remains of 

 at least three adults, lying in 

 confusion, as if only the folded 

 or dismembered skeletons had 

 been placed here. They lay on 

 a floor of slabs which, in turn, 

 rested upon undisturbed gravel. 



The facts observed are difficult 

 to interpret, as the original order 

 was so broken up; but it would 

 seem that as a preliminary to 

 the burial of bodies or skeletons, 

 the superficial earth had been 

 scraped away and a rough stone floor laid, on which the bundled or 

 folded remains were placed and at least partially covered with earth 

 and gravel. Other flat rocks Avere then laid over them, either directly 

 on the earth or more probably supported by poles placed across, 

 whose decay had allowed them to fall into the confusion in which 

 they were found. 



A small flint knife was among the remains. 



The pipe, being at a little distance from these bones, would sug- 

 gest another interment; but as no trace of such remained it may 

 have been placed as an afterthought or a separate deposit. 



From these skeletons row after row of the slanting rocks continued 

 to the inner side of the eastern wall. Two feet east of the pipe was 

 a skull on its right side, the back against a small flat rock. It was 

 crushed flat, and only a small part of it remained. Possibly it had 

 turned after burial, as fragments of other bones were found here 

 and there toward the south from it, indicating an extended burial. 

 The teeth were hard, solid, and much worn. The bones found were 

 more or less gnawed, and among them were scraps, probably of food 



Fig. 3. — Pipe from Cairn (2). 



