A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



appears in Britain. Not only is this the case with implements of stone and 

 of metal, but the same overlapping may be observed in the study of pottery. 



With all this overlapping of periods it is difficult to separate the purely 

 neolithic in Devonshire, and all the more so because there are no known long 

 barrows in the county. These may have existed in the low lands near the 

 neolithic clearings, and have been ploughed down during many centuries of 

 agricultural operations, but this does not account for their absence on some of 

 the great uplands of Devonshire — vast stretches of uncultivated moorland. 



Neolithic men visited Dartmoor, for they have left their tools and 

 weapons behind them as silent witnesses of the fact, but there are no traces 

 of their houses or their graves, with perhaps one possible exception, for the 

 nearest approach to a grave of the Neolithic Age is the only Devonshire 

 dolmen in the parish of Drewsteignton, on the borders of the Moor. This 

 was a family or tribal ossuary in use during the Stone Age, and even prob- 

 ably continued down to the time of the early use of bronze. It lies two 

 miles west of the village of Drewsteignton, in a field adjoining Shilstone Farm- 

 house. It is locally known as the Spinster's Rock. Three vertical stones 

 about 6 ft. high carry the cap or quoit, which is 1 2 ft. long, 9 ft. wide in 

 the broadest part, and just 2 ft. thick, and weighs about 16 tons. It unfor- 

 tunately fell on 31 January, 1862, but was replaced by the late Mrs. Bragg, 

 of Furlong, some ten months after. 



Close to the dolmen there formerly existed remains of stone circles and 

 stone rows (avenues). Some of these were noticed by Polwhele in 1793, and 

 others mapped by Mr. Grey in 1832. One stone row led towards the 

 dolmen, just as we find in other districts that these often lead to a kistvaen, 

 which is but a later type of dolmen on a smaller scale. Although this is the 

 only dolmen now standing in Devonshire, there is reason to believe that 

 formerly others stood in various parts of the county, for the oft-occurring 

 name of Shilstone, or Shelfstone, is indicative of their existence. 



Polished implements, such as celts or perforated axes, some of which 

 may belong to a later age,^ have been found near the head of the Walkham. 

 One each has been reported from nr. Princetown, Tavistock, Cosdon Beacon, 

 Bere Alston, North Bovey, Berry Cross nr. Great Torrington, Brentor, 

 Ash bury, Holsworthy, Runnage nr. Post Bridge, Withycombe Raleigh, 

 Hope's Nose, and Chelson, near Torquay, Houndiscombe and Compton 

 GifFord, Plymouth. 



There is thus evidence of the presence of neolithic man over considera- 

 able portions of the area of Devonshire. He evidently lived in Kent's 

 Cavern and Torbryan, but all traces of his dwellings or places of burial else- 

 where, excepting the dolmen grave at Drewsteignton, have disappeared. We 

 have, therefore, no opportunity of examining the physical characteristics of 

 neolithic skeletons in Devonshire, but we may take it, from investigations in 

 other counties, that they were long-headed, in contradistinction to the short 

 or round heads of the Bronze Age. 



The Bronze Age 



We fortunately possess abundance of evidence of the existence of a late 

 stone and early metal-using people in Devonshire. Few counties possess such 



' These probably belong to the Bronze Age. 

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