134 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
ON A KISTVAEN 
RECENTLY DISCOVERED AT TRETHIL, IN THE PARISH OF 
SHEVIOCK, CORNWALL. 
BY MR. C. SPENCE BATE, F.R.S. 
(Read at the Conversazione, Oct. 6th, 1881.) 
During the summer, while erecting a mow of corn on the farm of 
Trethil, it was found necessary to fix a stake in the ground. In 
accomplishing this the labourer came in contact with a flat stone, 
which was generally believed to be a drain-cover. The stone was 
then lifted, and immediately beneath was found the skeleton of a 
man. There was no one on the spot who took any interest in 
the circumstance, or had any conception of its being anything 
more than a hidden murder of some unknown individual in days 
long past. The farmer (Mr. Hill) told me that, anxious to get his 
corn saved, he took but little notice of the object beyond casual 
observation. 
Through the kindness of Miss Eoberts, of Trethil, I was invited 
to examine it, and found to my delight that it was undoubtedly an 
interment of prehistoric date. When it was first opened, I learned 
that the skeleton must have been tolerably perfect, as the skull and 
ribs were readily observed — the former lying in the south-east corner, 
the latter across from east to west. The arms were described as 
falling over the legs. This description, from persons who had no 
knowledge of the manner of the interments of the early inhabit- 
ants of this country, convinced me of the folded position of the 
body. Mr. Hill informed me that he had the lower jaw, which 
contained several teeth, in his hand — or, to use his own words, 
" he took up the chin with its teeth all in it " — and many of the 
bones were saved by Mr. Kerswill, of St. Germans, who afterwards 
gave them to me ; but they are all in such a fragmentary condition, 
and so fragile, that they are of little use beyond affording evidence 
