310 



BARROW, &C., ON TREWAVAS HEAD. 



Cornwall, of natural formation, with so much the appearance of 



having been fashioned 

 by art as this colossal 

 figure of human shape ; 

 and if antiquaries of 

 the latter part of the 

 last, or beginning of 

 the present, century 

 (before more recent 

 research had deter- 

 mined the undoubted 

 character of crom- 

 lechs) had found this 

 Kist-vaen with its 

 circle, they might have 

 been pardoned for as- 

 suming it to have been 

 an altar raised to the 

 honour of a rock- 

 deity overshadowmg 

 the scene. 



As the barrow oc- 

 cupies the highest 

 part of the ridge of 

 the promontory, it 



The Bishop Uock. 



commands a noble view of the whole breadth of Mount's Bay. 



Differing in modes of life from men of modern times, the early 

 occupiers of this country, in common vfitli those of more northern 

 nations, cherished the sentiment of having a grave on a lofty 

 height. Worsaae says such sites were more frequently selected 

 during what is called the '' Bronze Period." * " The barrows of this 

 " period were placed, wherever it was possible, on heights which 

 " commanded an extensive prospect over the surrounding country, 

 " and from which, in particular, the sea could be distinguished. 

 " The principal object of this appears to have been to bestow on 

 " the mighty dead a tomb so remarkable that it might constantly 



* Frimceval Antiquities of Denmark. 



