Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/64

44 modern puttees than stockings. Indispensable to the woman of the period was the bright-coloured hood, couvre-chef, or kerchief, with which she invariably covered her neck and head. In bad weather the hood was likewise adopted by men, who ordinarily went bare-headed, taking great pride in their long hair and beards, which they divided in the middle and combed with care.

For ornaments of the living at this early period of civilisation we have ever to go to the dead. They were buried in graves arranged in rows, over which low mounds were raised, as is the custom to-day. Here they have been found—these tall, big-boned ancestors of ours—lying on their backs, sometimes in wooden coffins, more often in the bare earth, all in full dress: the men with sword and spear, women with ornaments and jewels. Still we find the idea that material possessions will be available in a future life: that warriors would need their carving knives and drinking-horns in Walhalla, while those who were doomed to the cold shades of Hel might find compensation in past earthly splendour. It is unnecessary to add that the advent of Christianity ended this custom.