134 Examination of a Chambered Lony Barrow. 



more than two or three portions of the same vessel. One small vase 

 had boen perforated at the bottom and sides. (Fig. 11.) In the cen- 

 tral part of the chamber was a shard of pottery, perhaps Roman, (fig. 

 12) ; and a fragment undoubtedly such, was turned up at some depth 

 outside the chamber, near its western end, — affording a probable 

 indication that it had been searched during the Homan period, f 

 By whomsoever opened, its contents had been but partially dis- 

 turbed ; as was proved by the condition and order of the skeletons, 

 and by the presence of a defined layer of black unctuous earth 

 immediately above them. Not a bit of burnt bone or other sign 

 of cremation was met with ; there were no traces of metal, either 

 of bronze or iron ; or of any arts for the practice of which a know- 

 ledge of metallurgy is essential. 



The upright and covering stones, of which the chamber and its 

 appendages were formed, were of the hard silicious grit or sarsen 

 stone of the district ; the horizontal masonry (of which there were 

 traces between the uprights at the bottom of the chamber and 

 gallery, as well as surrounding the base of the mound), was of tile- 

 like stones of calcareous grit, the nearest quarries of which are in 

 the neighbourhood of Calne, about seven miles to the west. 



The skulls, of which four were nearly perfect, are more or less of 

 the lengthened oval form, with the occiput expanded and projecting, 

 and present a strong contrast to skulls from the circular barrows of 

 Wiltshire. They confirm the observation previously made, that 

 crania from the long chambered tumuli of this part of Britain are 

 usually of a narrow and peculiarly lengthened form. The forehead 

 is mostly low and narrow ; the face and jaws, as compared with the 

 other ancient British type, decidedly small. 



The principal skeleton, to which the skull figured in " Crania 

 Britannica," (pi. 50) belonged, was that of a man about 35 years 

 of age. It was deposited in the north-west angle of the chamber, 

 with the legs flexed against the north wall. The thigh bone 

 measured 17f inches, giving a probable stature of 5 feet 5 inches. 

 The skull faced the west. The lower jaw was found about a foot 

 nearer to the centre of the chamber, as if it had fallen from the 

 cranium in the process of decay. Being imbedded in the clayey 



