FRazER—On a Great Sepulchral Mound. 35 
lower layer of skeletons which, as already stated, were found disposed 
at full length on the surface of the original clay soil of the field, had 
many of them their skulls still remaining in close proximity to their 
bodies, but there were also uncovered skulls separated from the 
remainder of the skeleton for an appreciable distance, and again, 
lower jaws separated from the skulls. These observations would appear 
to show that some time must have elapsed after death before they 
became interred or covered with clay, during which decomposition had 
set in, and the skulls become detached; other facts which were care- 
fully ascertained led to the same conclusion : thus several crania had 
rolled with their base upwards, so that a quantity of clay had passed 
through the foramen magnum, and all such heads were as a rule in a 
far better state of preservation than those which lay with their bases 
downwards, when they continued empty and were more liable to 
become crushed and broken from external pressure. In washing out 
this clay that filled up the interior of the skulls, a miscellaneous 
collection of objects was obtained: broken pieces of human bones, 
decayed and loose teeth, a detached fragment of the angle of a jaw- 
bone, so large that it passed with difficulty through the foramen 
magnum, portions of the shells of cockles and periwinkles, and a few 
shells of snails of small size, and of the ordinary species found in the 
inside of old skulls. Several of these separated heads must have been 
decapitated, as they were discovered lying at considerable distances 
from the rest of the bodies. Of this we obtained more satisfactory 
evidence upon the eastern side of the mound, where Dr. Macalister also 
from his investigations arrived at a similar conclusion; for he detected 
there two different heaps each consisting of four heads collected 
together into groups; and on November 5, 1879, I obtained eight 
skulls, all of which were injured and in a broken condition lying 
gathered into one pile, of course, altogether separated from the rest of 
their bodies; they had undergone rough usage and broke into frag- 
ments when I endeavoured to remove them. The opinion I arrived at 
from examining them 7 situ was that, after being cut off they were 
rolled or kicked about, and the bones broken with extreme violence 
previous to gathering them into a heap. Again, at a later date, on 
November 28, the workmen who were searching for additional skulls 
for me discovered, close to the place where the other skull heaps had 
been procured and at a short distance from them, but more towards the 
N.E. of the excavations, another definite group consisting of eight 
skulls, also accumulated into a distinct heap and placed resting on the 
level of the original soil. These skulls I examined with special interest; 
and though they were damaged to a less degree than those obtained 
in the preceding groups, yet they all showed evidences of having 
sustained unusual injuries by being kicked about, tossed on the 
ground, or otherwise maltreated, for the bones of the face were 
smashed into fragments, and so detached that it was useless to attempt 
procuring a perfect specimen. One of the lower jaws belonging to 
this group had sustained a fracture of the body of the bone extending 
