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THE HARLYN BURIALS IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT 



ARCH^OLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN EUROPE, &c. 



By the Rev. D. GATH WHITI^EY. 



The purpose of the following paper is to produce some 

 little-known facts which may he found useful in fixing 

 approximately the date of the burials recently discovered at 

 Harlyn. In doing so, I shall not refer, as a rule, to recent 

 English discoveries, as these are well known and can easily be 

 studied, but I shall produce facts presented by the prehistoric 

 graves and megalithic remains in Western Europe, Africa, and 

 Asia, which cannot easily be referred to by the generality of 

 students. The result of this investigation will be to show that 

 the interments at Harlyn form a link in a chain of sepulchres 

 extending over thousands of miles, bearing similar characteristics, 

 and probably constructed during the same era. The manner of 

 investigation is similar to that by which the approximate date of 

 our dolmens or cromlechs may be established. In studying 

 these monuments we should trace their geographical distribution. 

 We should show that they form a chain along the shores of the 

 Mediterranean through France to Great Britain, we should see 

 that they could not have been erected before or after a certain 

 era, and we should produce evidence from folk-lore and tradition, 

 to show by whom they were not and by whom they probably 

 were erected. What are the chief characteristics of the Harlyn 

 burials ? They are, — the stone slabs enclosing and sometimes 

 covering the graves ; the bent and contracted positions of the 

 skeletons; the dolichocephalic type of the skulls; the prognathism 

 of the face ; the various trinkets, ornaments, and weapons found 

 alongside the skeletons, as well as the height of the latter, 

 which is from 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches, the average being 5 

 feet 4 inches. Taking these as salient points, let us pass the 

 evidence from foreign lands under review. Now, there are four 

 great tests by which the age of prehistoric burials may be 

 approximately established. The first is, the animal remains 

 which occur with the human bones. Thus if, in undisturbed 



