170 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF [lbct. 



removal should take place under proper superintendence. 

 We are apt to blame, the Eastern peasants who use 

 the grand old monuments of Egypt or Assyria as mere 

 stone-quarries, but we forget that even in our own 

 country, Avebury, the most magnificent of Druidical 

 remains, was almost destroyed for the profit of a few 

 pounds ; while recently the Jockey Club has mutilated 

 the remaining portion of the Devil's Dyke on Newmarket 

 Heath, in order to make a bank for the exclusion of 

 scouts at trial races. In this case, also, the saving, if 

 any, must have been very small ; and I am sure that no 

 society of English gentlemen would have sanctioned such 

 a proceeding, had they given the subject a moment's 

 consideration. 



In this short Introduction I have purposely avoided 

 all reference to history, and the use of historical data, 

 because I have been particularly anxious to show that in 

 Archaeology we can arrive at definite and satisfactory 

 conclusions on independent grounds, without any such 

 assistance ; consequently, regarding times before writing 

 was invented, and therefore before written history had 

 commenced. 



I have endeavoured to select only those arguments 

 which rest on well-authenticated facts. For my own 

 part, however, I care less about the results than about 

 the method. For an infant science, as for a child, it is 

 of small importance to make rapid strides at first : and 

 while I believe that our present views will stand the test 

 of further investigations, it is of the greatest importance 

 that our method should be one which will eventually 

 lead us to the truth. 



