By the Rev. W. C. Litkis. 1 



93 



work was resumed with the aid of the Rector of North Tidworth, 

 the Rev. TV". H. Cave Browne, Arthur Stallard, Esq., and two 

 labouring men. With this strong force we dug a wide trench to 

 the centre, carefully preserving the surface level. Flint chippings 

 and small fragments of coarse pottery were occasionally met with. 

 At a depth of three feet eight inches from the summit of the 

 barrow, we found two layers, six inches apart, of wood ashes and 

 burnt straw, in a kind of basin seven feet in diameter, as if beacon 

 fires had been ignited there. The upper layer was the larger one, 

 and the thickness of ashes was two inches. At a depth of ten 

 feet from the surface and at a distance of twelve feet from the 

 centre, was a layer of pounded chalk, eight inches thick, resting 

 upon what we at first supposed was the original surface mould. 

 But on piercing this mould, which was four inches thick, we came 

 to a cist or grave dug in the chalk, four feet six inches long, two 

 feet six inches wide, and one foot six inches deep. In it was the 

 skeleton of a } r oung person, with two urns of different sizes, at its feet. 

 The larger urn, which is of a coarse description of ware, (plate iii. fig. 

 2) rudely ornamented, contained burnt human bones ; and the smaller 

 urn, (plate iii. fig. 3) which is about five and a half incheshigh,ofafiner 

 ware, and more elaborately ornamented with dotted lines, and of that 

 character which has been usually designated a drinking cup, was 

 empty ; and both were on their sides. The skeleton 1 was probably 

 that of a female child of about 6 years of age, 4 feet high, and was 



1 We are indebted to Dr. Thurnam for the following remarks on the cranium 

 of this skeleton. [Eds.] 



" The skull, which wants the facial bones, is that of a ehild of about three 

 or four years of age. It has a cubic capacity of about 66 cubic inches, or 1081 

 cubic centimetres. The circumference measures 18.2, the greatest length 6.3, 

 the greatest breadth 5.1, and the height 4.9 inches. If the length of the skull 

 is taken as 100, the breadth will be found to be in the proportion of nearly .81 

 to the length. This brings it within the brachycephalous or rounded type, 

 such as is generally met with in the round barrows of this part of England. 

 The parietal tubers are very prominent. There is considerable flatness of the 

 lower part of the occiput, perhaps resulting from the pressure of a cradle board, 

 the use of which is known to produce this effect in certain tribes of North 

 American Indians. Inspection however suffices to show that the brachycephalic 

 type in this skull is strictly innate, and that the actual form can only in a very 

 secondary degree be due to flattening of the occiput. 1 ' 



