348 
42. But in my investigations in Scotland I have lately dis- 
covered, in Ayrshire, a monument which appears to combine the 
most important customs I have touched on in one. Diagrams 
A T represent the form of a mound with a large circular head,* 
and a serpentine ridge 400 feet long (figs. 32 and 33). It appears, 
though in a different attitude to the serpent mound m Argyll- 
shire,! still to bear the characteristics of a serpent emblem. At- 
tracted by the outline, I excavated the mound, and discovered 
a paved platform of great interest. The hill is 100 feet high on 
its western side, is most uniformly shaped, and on the. north 
and south sides measures 60 feet high ; to the east it is only 
40 feet, and here its true circular form is lost, and a distinct 
elongation, terminated in broken ground, occurs just over a 
roadway formed at no very remote date. On the other side of 
this roadway similar broken ground appears, where a beauti- 
fully curved serpentine embankment, 300 feet long com- 
mences. It is evident that the embankment once joined the 
circular mound or head, and was severed when the road was 
made. The embankment forms a ridge about five feet across 
on the top, and was once nearly 400 feet long; it tapers as it 
recedes from the head, and also slopes downwards towards 
the end or tail, terminating almost vertically, the earth having 
been retained in position by a facing of uncemented stonework, 
the remains of which still preserve the shape. The ridge, 
which runs sinuously from the east side of the mound 
northwards, has been formed on the crest of a lofty bank 
and is at an elevation of 130 feet above a stream still 
further north. The serpentine ridge did not contain any 
relics, but on cutting through it, its artificial formation was 
plainly shown, the materials having been brought from the 
adjacent sea-shore, and being quite distinct from the original 
summit, which was clearly defined. Trenches were cut m the 
head or circular hill at the four cardinal points, from the sum- 
mit to the base, without any result; but on continuing these 
over the plateau, so as to form a cross, a divergence had to be 
made to avoid some trees, when the soil, hitherto of light colour, 
suddenly changed to black. This discoloration being followed, 
a paved platform was found about two feet, in some places, under 
a rich vegetable soil, which covered the whole hill uniformly 
(except where it had been severed from the embankment), and 
which it must have taken ages to deposit ; the trees that have 
been for many years on the hillock assisting little, as they are 
* The ridge and head are now severed by a modern roadway. 
+ For further particulars of these mounds see the author’s papers in 
Reports of the British Association for 1870-71-72-73, and Proceedings of 
the Royal Institute of British Architects, 19th May, 1873. 
