172 



llEPORT ON BONES EROM HARLYN BAY. 



On the whole there is more resemblance, I think, to the 

 Eotherley series of Romano-British skulls than to any other with 

 which I am acquainted ; but I cannot recognize at Rotherley the 

 inclination towards the Sion type which strikes me in some of the 

 Harlyn Bay series. The average dimensions, if we compare the 

 males, are pretty nearly the same, the Harlyn Bay means being a 

 little broader and lower. 



Judging by the eye, I should say that the bronze type is even 

 now not uncommon in Cornwall, whereas in Wiltshire it is 

 certainly very rare. 



A word yet on the condition of the teeth. Caries was not in 

 all cases entirely absent, but it was very rare. On the other 

 hand the surfaces of the teeth were extensively worn down in 

 the older subjects, and to a less degree even in the younger ones. 

 One may conjecture that these peoj)le fed largely on grain or 

 other coarse and hard vegetable food. This would accord with 

 the conclusion to be drawn from the absence of weapons and of 

 notable wounds, that this was a peaceable and sedentary 

 community, not a nomadic or predatory one. As for the date of 

 their deposit, these bones can tell us little, but we may conjecture 

 with some confidence that it was after the Grallo-Belgic and before 

 the Roman conquest. As Sir John Evans has well said, the 

 finding of but a single coin might have put a different aspect on 

 the matter. 



