April 7, 1870] 
INCE IM ONG E: 
8 
oc5 
one or both ends broken off. The breaking of the point 
of the dead warrior’s spear was probably a solemn 
ceremony, and contrasts agreeably with repulsive funereal 
practices to which we shall presently refer. 
The bones and teeth of animals apparently used for. 
food, are found in considerable numbers. The remains 
of Bos longifrons and Cervus elaphus are, however, less 
frequent than in the unchambered barrows, whilst those 
of the wild boar are much more abundant. 
We have already in our first article alluded to the im- 
portant evidence which the critical study of the human 
remains from the long barrows is calculated to afford us, 
but in our remarks thus far we have purposely refrained 
from entering into the details of this subject. Although 
certain of the chambered barrows have afforded numerous 
skeletons, these monuments have been so frequently | 
disturbed by treasure-seekers in bygone times, that our | 
information as to the mode of interment is not so satis- 
endorses Mr. Greenwell’s opinion on this point in the 
following words: “Altogether I see no difficulty in 
acceding to the conclusion of Mr. Greenwell, that in the 
disjointed, cleft, and broken condition of the human bones 
in many of the long barrows, and especially in those 
examined by him at Scamridge, near Ebberstone, and 
near Rudstone, Yorkshire, we have indications of funeral 
feasts, where slaves, captives, and others were slain and 
eaten.” 
In a large proportion of the long barrows of the South- 
West of England, many of the skulls have been found to 
be split open apparently by some such weapon as a stone 
axe. The sharpness of the fracture seems to leave no 
doubt that the injuries were inflicted during life, or at all 
events before burial. It is inferred from the frequency of 
these cleft skulls, and the direction in which they are 
split, that they are those of victims immolated at the 
| burial of a chief. Sometimes one skull is found uninjured 
FIG. 4.—VIEW IN THE CHAMBER, LOOKING THROUGH THE ENTRANCE 
factory as could be wished. There seems, however, to be 
little doubt that the bodies were placed round the walls | 
of the chambers in a crouching or squatting posture, a 
favourite attitude for the dead both among early races 
and existing savages. The primary interments in the 
simple unchambered barrows consist either of a single or 
two separate skeletons, or of a number of bones promis- 
cuously interred. In the latter case the bones are 
frequently found huddled together in so narrow a compass 
as to preclude the idea of the corpses having been buried 
entire. This is most reasonably accounted for by the 
practice known to prevail among savage races of burying 
the dead in or near their huts,and subsequently disinterring 
the bones for the purpose of burying them in the cemetery 
of the tribe. Canon Greenwell, so well known for his 
explorations in the Wolds of Yorkshire, thinks. that some 
of the bones from long barrows examined by him indicate 
the ‘horrible practice of cannibalism. 
Dr. Thurnam| 
FIG. 5.—GALLERY LOOKING TOWARDS THE CHAMBER 
while all the others are injured. In the light of what has 
come down to us from classical writers of the customs of 
Western Europeans at the beginning of our era, we see no 
reason to doubt Dr. Thurnam’s conclusions on this point, 
although we should have liked to have more precise 
information of the relative number of cleft and uninjured 
skulls in particular barrows. 
The question how far the human remains, more 
especially the skulls, enable us to determine the race 
characters of the people or peoples who lie buried in 
the tumuli of Britain, has been discussed with great 
care and at considerable length in two papers by 
Dr. Thurnam, published in the Memoirs of the 
Anthropological Society for the years 1864 and 1870. 
In the first of these papers the conclusions, based on the 
examination of a very considerable number of skulls and 
limb bones, were maintained that the people whose re- 
mains are found in the long barrows were a short, long- 
