9 
Frazer—On a Great Sepulchral Mound. ol 
small fibres of the roots marking some of the skulls and other bones 
by absorption of their bony tissue. At a distance of at least fifty feet 
from the trunk of the tree I measured one of its leading roots, and 
found it to be upwards of two inches in diameter. 
When the site was first inspected it was possible to trace 
out a distinct wide-spread flattened elevation, or mound, of clay, 
that extended inwards from the border of the ancient obliterated 
highway into the field for about one hundred feet, of a circular 
form, measuring from east to west almost as much; its eastern 
limit was less defined, as the ground sloped gradually away. Mr. 
Wardrop had partitioned off a portion of this field towards the 
west end, and in digging here some forgotten stone drains became 
uncovered. But it deserves to be noted, that no trace of drains 
was present in the sepulchral mound, or near it; in fact, it must 
have remained from the remote date of its formation up to the 
present time altogether undisturbed and intact. Bordering the south 
and west of the mound, there was a slightly elevated bank; this 
boundary ridge had the deceptive appearance of constituting some 
kind of defensive embankment round the spot where the bodies lay. 
When it was better examined, it was ascertained to be of natural 
origin, for as the labourers excavated through the southern margin 
they found it to consist of undisturbed primitive soil, unbroken and 
continuous with the level surface of the original field, upon which the 
human remains rested, the colour and condition of the clay showing 
that it was a normal elevation of the primary soil, and not in any 
respect artificial. 
The disposition of the mass of bones and of the clay covering that 
composed the mound itself was rendered evident as the workmen 
excavated across it from north to south, cutting it open by a wide and 
shallow trench, averaging thirty feet in width, and progressmg until 
they had passed through its entire extent, and for a distance of several 
feet beyond it. I consider the most satisfactory observations were 
made when the trench was opened to about half its length, and when 
the vertical boundaries of the cutting were recent, during dry weather 
and in bright sunlight. Under those circumstances, it was easy to 
distinguish the horizontal line that marked the surface of the field 
itself ; beneath this line the section uniformly showed the undisturbed 
yellow clay, composed of stiff argillaceous material, and containing 
rounded and angular stones of ordinary argillaceous limestone, such as 
are common throughout the district ; and in this there were no traces 
of graves or interments, nor any imbedded human remains, save 
where, through the lapse of time, the bones of a few of the lower 
stratum of skeletons resting on this surface had sunk down slightly 
into it. 
This clay underlying the mound is similar in all respects to the 
ordinary soil of the district, and its comparative imperviousness to 
water would account for the remarkable state of preservation in 
which the majority of the skulls and other bones were found. This 
