146 GREENWELL AND EHBLETON ON AN 



burial to the later period of the time during which a bronze- 

 using people occupied Britain before the Roman invasion, and 

 who were, in the main, the inhabitants of our country at that 

 time. It is perhaps in vain to assign any date, even an approxi- 

 mate one, for this interment, the only thing about it which can 

 be laid down with confidence is, that it belongs to a time pre- 

 vious to that in which Rome began to influence the habits of the 

 Northumberland tribes, for the facts connected with it all point 

 to the British mode of burial in its integrity. 



Our chief attention has been directed to the skull, which, 

 together with the other bones, was in a very good state of pre- 

 servation. 



The skull is robust, well arched, and symmetrical, its super- 

 ciliary arches are very prominent, and its external angular pro- 

 cesses well developed. The forehead slightly recedes. The 

 occipito-parietal region is large and rounded. The nose has been 

 of moderate size, but the lower ends of the nasal bones are 

 broken off. The mouth is rather large and well formed, the 

 jaws strong, and contained a full set of sound teeth, a good deal 

 worn, especially the large molars. The lower jaw has a strong, 

 square and somewhat projecting chin, the angle is not far from 

 being a right angle, and the distance across from angle to angle 

 is considerable. The frontal sinuses appear to join together, and 

 form a projection over the root of the nose. The temporal fossa? 

 and spaces of origin for the temporal muscles are wide and large. 

 The sutures, coronal, sagittal, and lambdoidal, are partially ob- 

 literated. 



Taking this last character, with the number and state of the 

 teeth, and the general condition of the skull, it may perhaps be 

 inferred to have been that of a man about forty-five years old. 

 Again, considering the strong muscular impressions on the long- 

 bones, and size and strength of the cranium, it may perhaps be 

 correctly concluded to have belonged to a man of robust frame, 

 and ©f good intelligence. His stature, as inferred from the 

 length (19 -1 inches) of the femur, must have been about five 

 feet ten inches. 



The following are the principal dimensions of the skull, taken 



