FOOTPllINTS OF VANISHED RACES IN CORNWALL. 291 



developed bracliyceplialic skull found amongst theni. A fragment 

 of a long (dolichosephalic) skull was found in a limestone quariy 

 at Plymouth some time ago/'^ but no^iing special seems to be 

 known about it. Mr. W. 0. Borlase in speaking of tlie Sennen 

 skull, ^*^ says that it and the Borris skull (from Ireland) are the 

 earliest British representatives of the dolicho-platicephalic^^-'^type. 

 Professor Busk also^^ compares the Sennen skull with a long 

 skull found in the cave of Cefii at St. Asaph. 



The position of the skeleton, in the contracted or doubled- up 

 posture within the stone cist, is such a characteristic of the Neo- 

 lithic age, that Lord Avebury says concerning it — " There can be 

 no doubt that in the Neolithic stone age it was usual to bury the 

 corpse in a sitting or contracted posture ; and, indeed, it appears 

 probable, although far fi-om being satisfactorily established, that 

 in Western Europe this attitude generally indicates an interment 

 of the' Stone age : while those cases in which the skeleton was 

 extended may be referred, with little hesitation, to the age of 

 iron."^**^ Professor Boyd Dawkins,^*^ is equally emphatic in 

 declaring that the contracted burial was the rule in the Neolithic 

 period, and it is, according to M. Cartailhac,^*^ the usual position 

 of the body in Neolithic graves in western and southern France. 

 It is a form of burial peculiarly characteristic of the Turanian 

 race, and exists to-day amongst the Bashkir Tartars, the Eskimo, 

 and the natives of Laos and Annam. The burial in the 

 contracted position, so characteristic of the Ivernians in the 

 Neolithic age, is found in Cornwall. Mr. Borlase describes"' an 

 interesting case from Trevalga Head near Newquay, where 

 the corpse lay in a contracted position in a stone cist, within 



141. 7'he Geologist, vol. v, p. 212. It is much to be regretted that more details 

 of the fragments of skulls found at Plymouth in the limestone fissures, have not been 

 preserved. The Cattedown skulls have shown how important these remains may be. 



J42. The Dolmens of Ireland, \o\.\\\, p. 944. 



142a. Broad-shaped skull. 



143. Journal 0/ the Ethno'ogical Society, ]e,n. iHti. Professor Boyd Dawkins 

 describes the Cefn Cave, and reproduces 1 rofessor Busks' statements in Cave 

 Hunting, pp. 159 187. 



144. Prehistoric Times, (5th edition, igoo, p. 148. 



145. Early Man in Britain, p. 287. Sir John Evans suggests that the corpse was 

 placed in this attitude as if in sleep. Ancient Sloue Implements of Great Britain, 2nd 

 edition, 1897, p. 149. 



146. La France Prehistorique, p. 27;. M. Cartailhac agrees with Sir John Evans 

 as to the origin of this posture. In France, however, skeletons in other positions of 

 Neolithic age have been found. 



147. Nania Cornubia, pp. 80 - 90. 



