192 Mr Joseph Barnard Davis on Human Skulls 
once apparent to the eye of an anatomist who has been accus- 
tomed to the examination of ancient British crania, and per- 
haps may be made obvious to others by reference to accurate 
figures of well-authenticated examples. The series divides 
itself into two sections—viz., those skulls derived from cistic 
tombs, and those found in graves and other tombs. Of the 
former, there are four specimens, Nos. 4, 8, 9, and 13; of the 
latter twelve, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16. 
Being requested by Mr Robert Walker of the University Mu- 
seum, St Andrews, to make a few observations upon this series 
of skulls,—which it affords me much pleasure to do,—I will take 
a somewhat particular survey of them, making a note on any 
peculiarity I may observe, and add an enumeration of the sex, 
age, measurements, &c., of each in a table; and then proceed 
to any more general remarks that may suggest themselves; 
premising, in limine, that objects of this kind, discovered 
under circumstances which evince the period to which they 
have belonged to be uncertain, do not admit of that definite- 
ness which imparts such special value and interest to some 
antiquities. The skulls may go some way towards determin- 
ing the era and the race to which they have appertained; but 
the evidence they afford is to be taken cautiously, and not 
estimated at more than itis worth. Therefore more must not 
be expected from the proposed observations than approximate 
results. If approximate results can be attained with any de- 
gree of assurance, they will have a certain amount of interest, 
but they cannot fully satisfy a keen curiosity. To begin with 
the crania derived from cists. 
No. 4 found on the north-west of the foundations of the 
church, in a cist the full length of the skeleton, and with the 
head to the west. One of the covering stones of this cist, that 
above the head, was thought to have some sculpture on its 
lower surface. 
This is the globular skull of a man of advanced age, pro- 
bably as much as seventy years, as the principal sutures are 
almost obliterated, and the bones are thin, notwithstanding 
the teeth have all been present, although considerably worn. 
It is a very decidedly brachycephalic skull, and exhibits 
