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TWO ANCIENT BURIAL CAIRNS ON BRIMHAM 

 MOOR, YORKSHIRE. 



A. LESLIE ARMSTRONG, P.A.S.L 



By permission of the Right Hon. Lord Grantley, I was enabled 

 to make a careful examination of two of the ancient burial 

 mounds of ' Graff a Plain,' Brimham Moor, on Tuesday, August 

 4th, 1908. 



Mound No. i, of circular form, and about 12' o" in 

 diameter, is situated about 150 yards north-west of the first 

 large group of rocks, upon the south-eastern boundary of 

 the moor, and about 50 yards south-east of the trackway lead- 

 ing to ' Riva Hill Farm,' and it occupies the summit of a slight 

 hillock, upon a comparatively level portion of the heath, which 

 rises rapidly to the south of it in a bold sweep, terminating in 

 the outstanding rocks of Graffa Crags and Brimham Beacon. 



The entire absence of any heather upon the mound, and the 

 profusion of bright green bilberry plants which covered it and 

 at the same time rendered its outline more noticeable, told 

 plainly of a different character of subsoil from that of the sur- 

 rounding moor ; but prominent as the mound appeared, its 

 actual elevation was deceptive, being barely two feet above the 

 natural level, and the uneven character of the upper surface 

 suggested previous disturbance to be more than probable. A 

 few attempts to pierce the crown, however, proved it to be a 

 cairn, constructed of large stones, and accounted for the 

 prolific growth of the rock-loving bilberry which overspread it, 

 as well as for the uneven character of the surface. 



The thick green covering was carefully stripped off in lengths 

 and placed on one side, and the few inches of vegetable earth 

 removed, revealing the cairn in an almost perfect state, formed 

 of a series of large stones placed methodically in concentric 

 rings, each stone slightly inclined towards the centre, and the 

 whole mass interlocked together by their own weight. Large 

 stones were placed around the outside forming the enclosing 

 circle, which is almost invariably found in the case of earth- 

 built tumuli, and a few of these had been visible before the 

 covering was stripped. 



The construction of the cairn rendered it necessary to re- 

 move the stones from the outer ring first, and to work grad- 

 ually towards the centre where the burial, if such existed, 



1909 March i. 



