114 



Notes on Bowl's Barrow. 



which were piled upon them, and which crushed them the more 

 easily as the structure of the bone was weakened by the natural 

 process of decay ; and in every instance the bodies must have been 

 dismembered before they were interred. Some few ribs, and oc- 

 casionally a few vertebrae, were found in consecutive order, but no 

 instance of a complete vertebral column was seen. But none of the 

 bones were burnt, nor were there marks of cutting or scraping- on 

 any of them. There is an instance of a leg bone which had been 

 broken, but no attempt had been made to extract the marrow, for 

 a delicate plate of cancellated bone tissue extends across the open 

 end. So far the evidence from Bowl's Barrow is not in favour of 

 the theory above mentioned. 



The cist was reached after much labour, and found to be of oblong 

 form, at a right angle to the axis of the barrow, and about 89ft. 

 from the extreme east end. It was to the eastward, and quite 

 distinct from the general interment of bones. It was fully 2ft. in 

 depth, 6ft. Jong, and 3ft. wide. It was filled with light grey earth, 

 distinctly different to any other soil of the barrow. There were no 

 traces of interment within it, but scattered about very irregularly 

 just above the cist, were many loose bones of a skeleton which 

 must have been disturbed when it was first discovered by Mr. 

 Cunnington in 1801. They are unlike in colour and condition to 

 the other bones found in the barrow, and they doubtless belonged 

 to cranium No. 9, which was found lying to the east and just 

 beyond the edge of the cist. This had not, apparently, been disturbed 

 during the former diggings, but was covered by a large block of 

 sarsen, which had crushed it into numerous fragments. In its 

 restored condition it exhibits the characteristic long form ; index 69. 

 The circumstances under which these bones were found, and their 

 different colour, seem to indicate that they were interred separately 

 from the other human bodies, and they may, therefore, be the 

 remains of the individual in whose honour the barrow was raised. 



The flint-paving beneath the interment, as described by Mr. 

 Cunnington, was not continuous, and towards the west it was 

 entirely wanting, and here the bones were mostly more decayed, 

 and discoloured by contact with the old turf. 



