448 Mortimer, pre-history of the village of fimber. 
body No. 14 in an oval grave 2^ feet deep. Its position, excepting 
the arms, was almost exactly the same as No. 12. The left thigh 
bone was absent, and had probably been removed in digging for 
rabbits. The right femur measured 17^ inches ; the right tibia 13f 
inches; the left tibia 13^ inches; the right humerus 12^ inches; and 
the left humerus 12i inches. In the neighbourhood of the last body 
the ground had been much disturbed, and in several places small 
trenches were observed running north and south, or nearly in that 
direction. Mixed with the soil filling these trenches were a few frag- 
ments of dark-coloured pottery, and the teeth and bones of animals. 
Just within the line of the railway, near the south side of the 
quick-wood fence, and about 20 yards south-east of body No. 14 
was a small grave 2h feet deep, containing the remains of a goat, 
which had been buried in its flesh, as all the bones were in position. 
We believe there can be little doubt that the bodies exhumed at 
Blealands Nook are part of those of a Romano-British cemetery, and 
that many more lie under the railway, the embankment of which 
covers an area of 41 feet wide running through the centre of the 
cemetery, and as there is nothing on the surface to indicate their ex- 
istence, probably many more remain undiscovered outside the railway, 
though we have examined the ground in several places. The oval 
form of the graves and the flexed mode of disposing of the bodies, 
except in one case, are distinctly British features, and such as we find 
in nearly every barrow ; yet the almost constant orientation of these 
bodies is in striking contrast to a similar number of bodies from any 
British barrows known to me. Out of the twelve perfect bodies 
eleven had their heads to N. and N.E., the twelfth was to S.S.W., 
whilst six rested on the left side, four were on the right, one on the 
back, and one extended on the chest. In addition to the bodies by 
inhumation, there were two (a and b on the plan) by cremation. 
What is also exceedingly interesting is the fact that the inhumed 
bodies of the pig and the goat had been interred with the same 
amount of care as had been given to the human bodies. This, how- 
ever, is not the only instance of the discovery of carefully interred 
animal remains in this neighbourhood. 
In barrow No. 172 of my openings I found the body of a pig. 
