Macalister, &c. — Bronze-Age Interment near Naas. 359 



(&) The erection of the standiug-stone on a site previously chosen and 



prepared by quarrying the socket in the rock, 

 (c) The marking-out of the circular enclosure, using the stone as a 

 centre. 



That the tracing out of the enclosing wall was the last operation is in 

 itself most likely ; and the probability is increased by two considerations. In 

 the first place, it is obvious that so exact a circle could be most easily drawn 

 by tying a cord of the required length round the foot of the stone, and using 

 it as a radius. In the second place, the erection of the great standing-stone 

 presujnably required an inclined plane of earth with a long and gentle slope, 

 up which it would be run by means of rollers, and over the edge of which it 

 would be tilted into the socket prepared for it. This inclined plane would 

 most likely extend beyond the limits marked by the vallum ; and even if it 

 did not do so, the manipulation of this gigantic stone would clearly be seriously 

 hampered if the vallum and fosse stood in the way. 



The only possibility of ambiguity lies in the relative dates of the side- 

 stones of the cist and the standing-stone. We incline to believe that the cist 

 was finished first, partly because it is more probable that the protection of 

 the burnt bones would be the first care of the survivors, especially as this 

 was the easier work ; and partly because it is more likely that the stone would 

 be erected in such a way as not to interfere with the cist, than that the cist 

 would be erected in a way which would involve dangerous tampering with 

 the foundation and stability of the stone. It is, however, probable that 

 the quarrying of the socket for the stone took place after the burning of 

 the bodies (which in any case would obviously be the first stage in the actual 

 interment). 



(2) Wlmt is the meaning of the layer of burning that extends over so large an 

 area of the enclosure ? A great fire of brush-wood has been made, in which 

 nothing has been burnt or cooked. Taking into account the commanding 

 position of the hill, from which, though small, a very considerable part of 

 Counties Kildare and Wicklow is to be seen, we can hardly avoid the conclusion 

 that a great beacon-fire was burnt on the hill-top. It may have been a signal 

 to assemble the clan; it may simply have been an imposing part of the 

 burial-ritual. The fact that the lighting of this fire must have at least 

 preceded the erection of the standing-stone, as shown by the details discussed 

 in the following paragraphs, perhaps makes the former suggestion slightly 

 more probable. 



(3) IToiv does the burnt layer come to be covered vnth eighteen inches of Tnade 

 earth ? To this question we have only one reasonable answer to offer, namely, 

 that the made earth is the spread-out material of the inclined plane up which 



K.I.A. EEOC, VOL. XXX., SECT. C. [51] 



