332 Examination of Barrom on 



years since, nearly a bushel of burnt ashes had been accidentally 

 discovered, under a large sarsen stone in this barrow. 



A few barrows, which have been opened on the Downs of South 

 Wiltshire, may also be noticed. Near West Everley, on the south 

 side of the road to Andover, and about a mile to the west of the 

 village, are three low barrows in a ploughed field, which were 

 opened in 1853. Nothing was found in the two smaller; but in 



25. the third and central mound, which was between three 

 and four feet in height, was a small deposit of burnt bones, some 

 charcoal and a small bit of soft reddish pottery. 



On the down, about a mile to the north of those last described, 

 and close to the track between Pewsey and Everley, are two very 

 fine bell-shaped barrows placed close to each other ;* and in front 

 of these, one disc-shaped, or so called, "Druid's" barrow, and behind 

 and to the north, a small mound, probably not sepulchral, both of 

 which last were dug into, without result. 



26. The most eastern of the bell-shaped barrows is upwards of 

 thirteen feet in elevation ; and in this, in a slight cist scooped out of 

 the chalk, was a large deposit of burnt bones, probably those of a 

 man, unaccompanied by urn, weapons, or ornaments; and proving, 

 as Sir Richard Hoare often found, that " we must not judge of the 

 contents by the form of a barrow. Fronti nulla fides" 2 The up- 

 per part had been used in later times for a secondary interment ; 

 the skeleton of a tall man being met with, about a foot from the 

 summit, laid at full length and with the head to the south. The 

 arms were close to the sides of the skeleton; the thigh bones 

 measured nineteen and a half inches. The skull has an ovoid form, 

 the crowns of the teeth are flatly eroded; and, notwithstanding the 

 discovery of a few fragments of coarse Roman pottery close by, the 

 interment may be attributed to the Anglo-Saxon period. 



27. The more western barrow is not quite so high as the eastern. 

 At the depth of about eleven and a half feet, was a heap of burnt 

 bones, apparently those of a man ; and with these a small bronze 



1 These fine barrows are not referred to by Sir Richard Hoare, in his account of 

 the tumuli of this district. They are close to the south side of the " very per- 

 fect oblong earthen work," desoribed by him. Ancient Wilts, vol. i. p. 190, 

 9 Tumuli Wiltun, p, 23, Ancient Wilts, vol. i. pp. 46, 166, 310, 



