Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/386

 322 DESCRIPTION OF A CHAMBEKED TUMULUS two upper dorsal vertebra) united by anch^'losis, and it is to be remarked that two others in the same condition, obtained in 1S21, are preserved in the museum at Guy's Hospital. There were also a few bones of ruminant animals with por- tions of the jaws of boars, with teeth and fragments of tusks. One of the latter had been cut and jierforatcd as if for suspension, as an amulet or tropliy. There were two or three oyster shells, much decayed, a few fragments of red pottery of the coarsest kind, well-burnt, but whether of the Romano-British or iIedia}val period, could not be ascer- tained, as no part of any rim or moidding remained. At the base of the cairn, in the approach to the entrance, two flint flakes were found, one of them darkly stained. As flint does not naturally occur in the district, these must be regarded, almost with certainty, as fragments of arrow, heads or other implements of the period, when the tumu- lus was erected. This is an inference still further confirmed by the discovery of two stone axe-heads in the immediate neighbourhood of the cairn. One of these axe-heads, now in the museum of Guy's Hospital, is of flint ; the other of hard green stone : they measure 4 inches in length, by li in breadth. A groat of Edward IV. was i)ickcd up, during the recent exploration, by one of the workmen ; and this may perhaps mark the time when the cairn was rifled by some mediiuval treasure-diggers.'' It is to be regretted that only two perfect crania from this burial-place have been ]U'cserved ; these were presented to the museum of Guy's Hospital by the late Dr. Fry, who had himself taken them from the tumulus. The first, a remark- able specimen of its kind, is the skull of an adult male, with the lower jaw coinplct(3. Its length is great in })ro])ortion to its breadth ; the form, according to Kctzius, being deci- dedly (hjliclioeephalic. The forehead is small, and rather contracti.'d, but not low ; the frontal sinuses well mari^ed ; the extei'iial ."Miditorv opening is situated wiiliin (lie posterior ' TIkti- iHcurii)iiH proof i)fniicli Hi'iirclic's It is luiiilriillv slipiil/itcil llmt the m-arcli ffir trt-aHiin' in iiiciliii'Viil tinii'H, in ii docu- hIiouIiI lie iiinilc in opi'ii d.-iv, in tlic prc- iiKiit on till! ratcnt Hull ol 17llilvlv. 11. hciico of tlic Hlicnfr of tiic county, tlio (l.'VJl), t-ntitlcd " lii- ttTi-ii foilrhro drci iimtrli'n «ir tilliin^,'-nmn, uinl oilu-r thc.HJiuro iil)Hi:onilito (|nrrcii(lo ;" in wiiifli honest men wlio nii;;lil lin itlilc to certify the privih^e (if exainininj; Hix hurrowH to (lie fiiclH. (Sir 11. IIIIIh'h " {.ettcPH of tinii Hoiao other pliiccH in I)i-vonHhire, Imminent hiteniry Men," pnlilitthed hy the when; IreiiMiin; wiih HUpposed to lio cim- Cuniden Society, lU-i;!, p. ;t2.) o-aled, iH >{nint<d to one IIoIktI llinn|iel