TRANSACTIO>iS OF SECTION H. 913 



-weapons were of stone, and tliey buried their dead very frequently in long barrows. 

 It is generally accepted that the small dark people found in South Wales and other 

 parts of the West of England to whom the name ' Iberian ' is applied are the repre- 

 sentatives of this early race. The country was next invaded by a tall race, with 

 round heads and prominent brow-ridges, whose weapons were of bronze, and who 

 interred their dead in round barrows. These are identified as the people against 

 whom the Romans had to contend when they took possession of England, and who 

 are known as the Kelts. Although many discoveries of the remains of these two 

 races have been made at different times and in various parts of the country, much 

 uncertainty still exists as to their history. During the last three years, and parti- 

 cularly during the past year, however, important information has been obtained 

 regarding them from the discoveries of General Pitt-Rivers at Rushmore, near 

 Salisbury, in the extreme south of Wiltshire. He has found on his estate there no 

 less than four British villages of the Roman period, besides many other tumuli and 

 cists. Two of these villages have now been excavated with the greatest care, and 

 a very full description of the one first examined and of the several neighbouring 

 tumuli has just been published in a handsome volume, containing no less than 

 seventy-four quarto plates, and numerous woodcuts and tables. Both villages are 

 situated on the Downs, on high ground, and were only marked, previous to their 

 excavation, by slight elevations and depressions of the surface, which, on examina- 

 tion, proved to be the remains of what were once ditches and ramparts. Many 

 parts of the village, however, showed no trace on the surface, and were only brought 

 to light by carefully trenching nearly every foot of the ground within the ramparts. 

 Very careful drawings have been made both of the villages and of all the other 

 excavations, as well as of the objects found. The feature which particularly attracted 

 the attention of everyone who saw these ancient villages after they had been exca- 

 vated was the complicated system of ditches and pits they contained. The general 

 plan of both villages is essentially the same. A main ditch and rampart situated 

 internally to the former marks the external boimdaries of each village, and nume- 

 rous smaller ditches intersect the interior, all conducting in the direction of the water- 

 shed of the country. In the pits and in the ditches were found many human remains, 

 several of which had been interred with the legs drawn up and the body resting 

 on one or other side. Sometimes the interments were single, and in other cases two 

 bodies were found together, with the heads in opposite directions. In most instances 

 little care had been bestowed on the interments, and no rule had been followed in 

 depositing the body. At different parts of the camp, and in the ditches and pits, 

 were found considerable quantities of Roman pottery, coins, fibulae, and various 

 ornaments of bronze and iron, as well as worked stone implements. The village 

 of Woodcuts, described in the work referred to, was particularly rich in these objects. 

 In the interior of this village were found several wells, one of which was 188 feet 

 in depth, and at the bottom of it was found the iron portions of a bucket. In the 

 outsmrts of the village were four hypocausts, or heating-places. Besides the 

 human remains many remains of domestic animals, which proved to be those of 

 Bos lon</ifrons, a small long-legged variety of sheep, dogs of various sizes, pig, roe, 

 red-deer, and horse were found. Also a considerable quantity of oyster-shells. 

 Grains of wheat were found in one of the pits, associated with a bronze fibula and 

 fragments of pottery. The human remains are extremely interesting, and thi'ow 

 much light on the characters of the people to whom they belonged. The chief 

 point of interest which they show is the small stature of the people — the average 

 neight of the males being 5 feet 4 inches, and of the females 4 feet 11-8 inches, 

 in the village of Woodcuts ; and in that of Rotherly — the other village excavated 

 this year — 5 feet 1 inch and 4 feet 10 inches respectively. The skulls are of a long 

 narrow oval form, with one or two exceptions, which are of rounder form. These 

 latter were found associated with longer limb-bones, and evidently belonged to a 

 different race from the majority of the inhabitants. Two types of skull are fre- 

 quently met with in long barrows, both of a long narrow form, but differ from 

 each other in one having a regular oval outline, while the other broadens out from 

 a narrow forehead, and, having obtained its greatest width, terminates rapidly 

 behind. The skulls found in the village correspond exactly to the first type. It 

 1887. 3 N 



