304 
YOEKSHIRE TUMULI. 
Near the head were two pins, one of gold, 2 inches in length, with a 
flat, pear-shaped head ; the other silver, of larger size, with two 
holes perforated through the upper part, probably by a bodkin. 
There were several rings of silver wire, the ends twisted together ; 
blue glass beads ; a portion of a knife ; and several much-corroded 
fragments of iron, a small circular hole perforated in the centre, 
probably a whorl of a spindle ; and an oblong bronze ornament of 
unknown use. The bones of the body were much decayed. A singular 
custom was indicated by the cutting edge of the front teeth being 
filed into three points, a peculiarity which may have denoted the 
rank or tribe to which the deceased belonged. Mr. Denny remarks 
that Dr. Barnard Davis records in Crania Britannica, the possession 
of an Ashantee skull, the upper front teeth of which had been 
chipped to points. This remarkable circumstance shows that a simi- 
larity of custom has prevailed between two tribes so widely separated 
by time and locality as this native of Western Africa of the present 
day and the young lady of Anglo-Saxon birth, probably interred in 
the fourth or fifth century of our era, the only difference being that 
in one the upper front teeth are tiled, and in the other the lower. 
Of the eight smaller tumuli only two or three contained the 
remains of interments. In one of them, near the thorax of the body, 
was found a small circular bronze box, attached to which was a 
bronze chain, a ring-shaped fibulae, and a small iron knife. These 
objects are now in the Leeds Museum. Another tumulus contained 
a spear head of bronze ten inches long. On the Hambleton training 
ground are two flat tumuli, one of which is Cleave Dyke. They had 
been opened by Mr. Greenwell and others, and some particulars were 
given with respect to their contents. Cleave Dyke entrenchment 
exhibits a peculiarity of construction. It consists of parallel entrench- 
ments, between which is extended a raised portion at about every 
three yards. It is somewhat difficult to conceive what can have been 
the purpose of these divisions ; it is surmised that they may either 
have been used as sunk pits or earthworks in warfare so as to com- 
mand a better position, or they may have been covered with wattle 
boughs and formed the rudimentary huts of this ancient British people. 
The whole district appears to have been very thickly populated. 
