41cS MORTIMER: BRITISH HABITATIONS ON DANBY NORTH MOOR. 
of peat to have taken place afterwards. Such an instance is given 
by the Rev. H. H. Hutchinson, in Prehistoric Man and Beasts, 
p. 26. He alhides to a bed of peat, 5 to 6 feet in thickness, that 
liad accuiiiulated over a pavement of small stones in the centre 
of a small circle at Moyness, in Nairnshire, Other instances of a 
similar kind could be given.* That these pits now hold surface 
water is mainly due to the growth of heather and peat, which 
in this case is j^robably of somewhat modern accumulation. Taking 
all the evidence into consideration, I am noAV — though in the absence 
of positive proof -strongh' inclined to believe — at least, until further 
evidence is obtained — that this series of pits (unlike many others) 
was an assemblage of primitive habitations. The site is a well- 
chosen one, near the foot of a low ridge (Three Howes Rigg), 
between two small streams of watei'. The diameters of these pits are 
of convenient size for being roofed by placing round their edges 
branches of trees, leaning inwards and meeting at the top. Their 
depths also are just such as would enable an adult to tumble in and 
scramble out unaided by mechanical assistance. 
Most probably their interiors would be lined by small twigs 
and dry grass, making them places of warmth in winter and cool 
retreats in summer — just such places as would well serve a small 
community of j^rimitive hunters living mainl}^ in the open air. 
That these pits were contemporaneous with the contiguous 
howes, and that under these barrows now rest the remains of the 
chiefs of this early settlement is not improbable. 
The conclusion derived from the exploration made by what 
Canon Atkinson terms " the large body of wise men from Whitby " 
I believe to be the true one. 
* Several occurrences are given in Loch Efive, by A. Smith. 
