360 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— H. 



that also came in from Asia, bringing with them the domestic animals and the Neolithic 

 culture at the beginning of the Holocene age. 



Of the Holocene it only remains to note that prehistory shades into history, so 

 that what is prehistoric in one region is historic in another. The records of Chaldea 

 and Egypt, going back to about 4000 B.C., are the limits to the possibility of fixing 

 a date in years. 



While, therefore, we cannot date the arrival of man in Europe, we can be sure of 

 his vast antiquity, and trace him back to the last phase of the period when the British 

 Isles were the uplands of the Pleistocene Continent. 



Prof. T. H. Bryce. — On a Collection of Human Skeletons from the North 

 of Scotland dating from the Viking Period. 



The bones which form the subject of this note were recovered from a group of 

 graves in Caithness, excavated by Mr. A. J. H. Edwards, of the National Museum of 

 Antiquities, Edinburgh. The graves were of a type not before described, but in some 

 particulars resembling those described long ago by Laing and Huxley. They were 

 discovered during the partial removal of a turf-covered, sandy eminence. The 

 structural detail of the graves varied, but the typical grave was surrounded by a 

 well-formed kerb enclosing a rectangular or circular space some twelve feet across. 

 This was occupied by a rudely built wall which served to enclose an elongated chamber 

 of about 7 to 10 ft. long by 3 ft. 6 in. broad. The upper stratum of the wall 

 was formed of rounded pebbles of white quartzite. The chamber or cist contained 

 two or more skeletons fully extended — the bodies being in some cases separated 

 by flags set upright, in other cases they were enclosed in cists placed at different 

 levels. The orientation was commonly roughty N.W. and S.E., but varied. The 

 head was generally placed at the north, but sometimes at the south end of the 

 grave. 



There was a remarkable absence of grave goods, the only relic found being a 

 bronze chain round the neck of the skeleton of a young female. The poverty of the 

 graves distinguishes them from those hitherto recognised as Viking. The kerb 

 differentiates them from graves belonging to the Norse Early Iron Age. They most 

 closely resemble graves in Bornholm and Gothland of various periods of the Early 

 Iron Age. The bronze chain belongs, in the form of its links, &c, to a type found 

 across the North Sea and dating from about 1000 a.d. 



The people buried in these graves were of low stature, the average height of the 

 men being 5 ft. 5 in., and that of the women 5 ft. £ in. This contrasts with the 

 average stature of the Caithness men among Dr. Tocher's recruits, which was 

 5 ft. 8 in. 



In considering these skeletons, another group from an underground building 

 at Renniboster, Orkney, with exactly the same general characters, has been 

 included. 



The skull form is dolichocephalic, the average index for the males being 74, and 

 that for the females 75-6. This last figure is unduly high, being raised by the inclusion 

 of one broader skull, the only one in the series which approached the limits of 

 brachycephaly. These indices are lower than any other larger and more modern 

 series. They may be taken to represent the main factor in the population of the 

 north of Scotland in their early days. The type differs little from that prevailing 

 to day. 



A typical Viking grave excavated by Mr. Edwards, with iron axe, umbo of a 

 shield, an iron knife, bronze pin, &c, may be given as a contrast. The stature of 

 the man was about 5 ft. 6J in. The skull was brachycephalic with an index of 

 82, and not of Nordic type. 



The chief interest of the skeletons lay in the characters of the leg bones. In the 

 majority the angle of torsion, so called, of the femur was high, sometimes very high, 

 and associated with the forward directed head, the upper part of the shaft of the 

 bone showed a distinct outward twist. The so-called torsion of the tibial shaft was 

 also great in most cases. Further, the outer tibial condyle was generally convex 

 posteriorly, and the border of the talar surface was facetted. In these respects the 

 bones resemble those of certain peoples who habitually adopt the squatting posture, 

 and we may conclude that the same was true of these early northern folk. 



