316 Notes on Barrows on King's Play Down, Heddington. 



The Saxon skull is quite perfect, even to the styloid processes. It is that 

 of a vigorous man apparently in the prime of life, and is very fine in both 

 size and proportions. In the norma verticalis it is rather elliptic than oval- 

 in the lateralis it presents a slight postparietal flattening, but is generally 

 well filled, rounded, and symmetrical. The face is long, the nasal bones- 

 arched, the forehead domed, the brows only moderately prominent. 



The cranial capacity is much above the average. The following are the- 

 estimates thereof by several processes : — 



Welcher, D. 1677 cubic cent* Pelletier 1613 



Beddoe 1672 Welcker, C. 1586 



Pearson, G. F. 1639 Pearson & Lee, \icco 



Manouvrier (Flower) 1612 or 1624 mean of 3 j 



Here the peripheral schemes all give results exceeding those of the 

 diametral ones —the truth probably lies near the upper end of the scale — say 

 about 1650 ; for the skull, being well rounded, must be capacious in propor- 

 tion to its diameter ; and its- weight (about 28 ounces including the mandible)' 

 is not excessive. 



For the determination of the stature I have a left femur and a left 

 humerus. The former yields, by my process [(3 F. + 330 mm.)=stature] a 

 height of 1794 mm. = 70*5 inches, the latter one of 1769 • = 697 inches. 

 Pearson's process for the two bones gives 1745 mm. = 68 - 7 inches. Man., 

 ouvrier's 1734 = 68 - 27. Thurnam would have made the stature 70"4 inches, 

 and Humphry 7016. L 



The preservation of the thyroid cartilege, due to infiltration with lime 

 from the chalk, is a markworthy circumstance. 



Taking in conjunction the following facts : — 1, Burial in, or rather under, 

 a barrow apparently raised expressly for the purpose ; 2, Absence of any 

 accompanying objects ; 3, Orientation (head to west) ; I presume that this 

 interment dates from about the middle of the 7th century. The skull-type 

 is what I have been accustomed to call " high Saxon, and it is frequent 

 among us at the present day. 



The other skull is as typically Neolithic as the former is Saxon or English, 

 in narrowness it may even be said to transcend the type. It has unfortunately 

 been smashed into about fifty pieces, and, though it has been well recon- 

 structed, one cannot, of course, put much trust in the measurements. We 

 may, however, be certain that it was very large and very long, extremely 

 narrow, much higher than it was broad, very regular in profile-contour, and 

 in the norma verticalis flatsided, and square anteriorly. It was probably 

 opisthognathous, and certainly leptorrhine. The forehead was somewhat 

 receding and the brows prominent : the lower occipital was very short. It 

 belonged to an old man, but the teeth, smaller than those of the Saxon, and 

 quite sound, were not very much ground down. 



It is rather thin and light, weighing 22£ ounces with the mandible. Its 

 capacity was certainly very large, probably greater than that of its Saxon 



1 It is interesting that measurements of the skeleton taken before the bones 

 were disturbed, from the crown of the skull to the heel bone, made 5ft. 9jiu. 

 — M.E.C. 



