126 White Quartz Pebbles. 



•can be obtained from a quartz stone a symbol may easily 

 enough have been evolved. This qualiiy of the stones chosen 

 for burial with the dead appears to have been desiderated, if 

 we may conclude so from the fact that flint flakes seem some- 

 times to have taken the place of them, while at other times 

 flints appear to have been associated with white quartz peb- 

 bles as in the Stone Age cairn burials in Argyleshire and 

 elsewhere. The whiteness of the quartz stones again would 

 become symbolic, and there may possibly have been some 

 custom among our pagan ancestors.*. Dr John Evans, the 

 great authority on Stone and Bronze Age discoveries, has 

 much to say on the subject, and he tells us in his famous book 

 on Ancient Stone Implements in Great Britain that " pebbles 

 selected for their beauty or some singularity of appearance, 

 "were very frequently accompaniments of ancient interments. 

 ." After mentioning curious pebbles of different 

 colours in barrows of Wiltshire close to the skeletons found 

 in them, and one specially beautiful pink one at Breedon, 

 near Leicester, under similar conditions, he goes on to say 

 that " quartz pebbles are very frequently found with ancient 

 burials, Mr Bateman, author of Ten Years Digging, records 

 that near Hartington, Derbyshire, eighty quartz pebbles were 

 found in a grave. Sometimes the pebble was actually placed 

 in the hand of the deceased as at Alsopp, and in several urns 

 one quartz pebble was found in or near urns with burnt 

 bones, and also with the remains of children or young persons 

 one quartz pebble lay beside the skeletons." Rock crystal 

 sometimes takes the place of white quartz pebbles, and in 

 Stronsay, Orkney, this was found in a cist, and was possibly 

 a charm or amulet. In Italy a piece of crystal Is used as an 

 amulet to protect the eye sight. In Scotland we hear of balls 

 of crystal that served as a protection against the evil eye, and 

 were dipped in water which was given to the cattle to drink. 

 Balls of crystal also are frequently set in cross bands and are 

 treasured in many families as victory stones. In India, next 

 to the value of a stone as a pledge of victory in battle would 

 stand its capacity to ensure to its possessor the fulfilment of 

 his prayers addressed to the immortal gods, the idea being 



• Sir Arthur MitcheU, Proc. Soc Ant. Scot., Vol. 18, p. 290. 



