118 APPENDIX. 



stone. In connection with these, is a remarkable variety of" stone enclosures. 

 Some consist of a simple circle of upright stones ; two of which, placed opposite 

 each other, are larger and taller than the rest. Others are circular, with a small 

 avenue of approach of four stones on each side ; others are large circles, with 

 every sixth stone of larger size than the others, and the two north and south, of 

 still greater dimensions ; others are triangular, with a large stone in the centre, and 

 another at each corner ; others triangular, with each side curving inward, but 

 without the large stones in the centre and corners ; otheTs are square. The struc- 

 tures last named are frequently surrounded by valla, and enclosures are seen 

 contiguous to and even forming part of tumuli. — (Sjoborg- Samlingar for Nordens 

 Fornalskare, <|-c., 2 Vols. 4to., Stockholm, 1822; Zur Alterthumskunde des Nordens, 

 Von J. J. A. WorsacE, Leipzig, 1 847.) 



Mr. Worsaee divides these barrows, according to the character of their contents, 

 into three classes : 



First. — Barrows of the Sto?ie Age. — These contain unburned corpses, enclosed 

 in rude stone chambers : the implements and utensils found in them are of stone 

 or flint. 



Sbcond. — Barrows of the Bronze Age. — Containing burned human remains, de- 

 posited in vases or little stone chests : also, arms and utensils of bronze or copper. 



Third. — Barrows of the Iron Age. — Burned human remains : arms and utensils of 

 iron, etc. These barrows are often of regular forms, triangular, square, oval, ship- 

 form, etc. ; generally surrounded by upright stones, as above. 



This classification differs somewhat from that usually adopted, in which the 

 " age of fire" and the " age of hills" distinguish the earlier and later periods of 

 Scandinavian monumental history. Odin is said to have introduced the practice 

 of burning, and also that of the wife sacrificing herself with her deceased lord.* — 

 (^Mallefs Northern Antiq., Chap. XII.) Among all the rude nations of the north and 

 west of Europe, for an indefinite period before the dawn of civilization, burial 

 customs, strictly analogous to those already described, existed. The dead were 

 buried with or without burning, and with them were deposited numerous relics of 

 art, which, in the greater or less skill which they exhibit, mark the eras of burial, 

 and the gradual advance of the builders. The Germans, says Tacitus, " added to 

 the funeral pile the arms of the deceased and his horse," and both Csesar and 

 Pomponious agree in saying that the inhabitants of Belgium and Gaul buried or 

 burned with the dead whatever was valued by them in their lifetime. 



* A recent Stockholm paper has the following paragraph relating to the excavation of certain Runic 

 barrows, in Sweden : 



" The crown Prince has lately directed several of the Runic Barrows, or ' giant's graves,' in the neigh- 

 borhood of old Upsula, to be opened at his cost. Odin's Hill was the first opened, when clear proofs weie 

 found that the hill was not formed by nature, but by human hands, although ' the urn, wi^h the bones of 

 the individual inhumed therein, and which, in all probability, is in the centie of the hill, had'not been found. 

 A hearth, formed of extraordinary large bricks, was first discovered in the interior, and at a distance of 

 about twenty-three yards, a strong wall, of large pieces of granite, resting on a solid floor made cff clay ; 

 the wall formed the corner of a large grotto of from four to six feet in height. Within it there were ashes 

 and other traces of fire. Unfortunately, the advanced period of the year'has, for the present, interrupted 

 the works, but they will be resumed in the summer." 



