A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



Fig. 10.- 



-Urn from Cairn No. 

 Fernworthv 



kistvaen (No. 2) with remains of a stone row connecting with a large cairn (No. 4). About 

 80 yds. ESE. of the stone circle is a small cairn standing on a slight rise in the ground (No. i), 



whilst farther north is a double stone row terminating with a 

 mound. This stone row points to the stone circle, but whether 

 it was ever actually joined to it is doubtful. 



Cairns Nos. 2, 3, and 4 have all been disturbed at some 

 unknown time. No. 2 (see fig. 9) contained a kistvaen ; and 

 although previously rifled masses of burnt bones mixed with 

 ' calm ' or sub-soil and peaty earth weighing 4^ lb. were found 

 in the bottom of the kist, the burnt bones could not positively 

 be identified as they were too fragmentary and consumed by fire, 

 but they corresponded with the characteristics of human remains. 

 Cairns Nos. 3 and 4 gave no results, with the exception of a 

 tiny flint chip in No. 4. 



The leading idea of this group of antiquities was evidently 

 sepulchral, and as No. i cairn appeared to have escaped previous 

 disturbance it was thoroughly explored in 1897. It had a 

 diameter of 19 ft., was 2 ft. above ground-level in the centre, 

 but was concealed by a growth of heather, and short furze and 

 bracken, the roots of the two latter being found deep down 

 in the structure. The cairn was originally surrounded by stand- 

 ing stones ; three of these were in position, 9 to lO ft. from the 

 existing foot of the slope of the barrow. 



The accompanying sections (see fig. 9) explain the structure 

 of the cairn. It was evidently made by clearing away a circular area of ground, with a diameter 

 of about 19 ft., and after excavating about 14 in. of the 'calm,' or sub-soil, a pit was sunk in the 

 centre to a depth of 1 8 in. This pit was 4 ft. wide from east to west, whilst from north to south 

 it was 7 ft. The depth of this pit from original ground-level was 3 ft. 3 in., so that the total 

 depth from the highest barrow surface was 5 ft. 3 in. A trench was dug from west to east, and 

 subsequently another was cut from north to south, so that almost the whole of the interior of the 

 cairn was exposed. These trenches disclosed the area occupied by the pit. The portions of the 

 cairn left intact were subsequently examined, but nothing was found in them. 



On removing the turf of the cairn it was found to be built of handy-sized stones, 

 gathered from the surface. Some were large enough to require two hands to lift them. Not only 

 was the cairn piled up with these stones, but the entire pit was filled iip or packed with them, 

 so that some little diflSculty was experienced in getting them out. In the central pit at a depth of 

 about 4^ ft. from the surface a small piece of oxidized bronze was found, with fragments of 

 some fibrous wood attached to it. The bronze object was ij in. long, with a greatest width 

 of f in., and weighed J oz. ; it is apparently either the remains of a small knife or spear-head, most 

 likely the former. Near this were two or three fragments of pottery, and close under them a 

 small urn was discovered (see fig. 10), which had been crushed by the subsidence of the cairn stones. 

 A large dress-fastener or button of horn was found on the same level as the bronze (see fig. 11) and 

 distant 2 ft. to- 

 wards the NW. 

 The upper surface 

 is polished, and has 

 a brown lustre. 

 The bottom of the 

 urn was resting on 

 the ' calm,' or sub- 

 soil, and a flint 

 knife was lying 

 amongst the sherds 

 in such a manner 

 as to suggest that 

 it might have been 

 placed in the urn 

 (see fig. 1 1 a). 



Not a trace 

 of bone, burnt or 

 unburnt, could be 

 detected anywhere 



in the pit of the Fig. it. — Horn Dress-Fastener from Cairn No. i, Fernwobthv 



358 



