Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/377

 SEPULCHRAL DEPOSIT TN HOLYHEAD ISLAND. 233 about an eighth of an mch only in length, but sufficed to prove that some object, of wood, bone, or other perishable material, and compacted with metal, had been either burned or deposited with the remains. On emptying the little urn, a remarkable appearance was noticed : numprous filaments, evidently the remains of some vegetable structure, formed a kind of irregular network over the interior surface of the urn. At first sight, a supposition suggested itself that these might 1)0 the traces of a nujcodcrma, or some vegetation, wdiich had become developed in the urn subsequently to the deposit, and in consequence of moisture. On careful examination, however, with a powerful lens, Mr. Quekett was enabled to affirm that these were the dry ribs of the leaf of some species of Pferis, a kind of fern abounding near the spot. He com- pared the structure with recent specimens of fern, and the fact seemed undoubted that the urn had been lined with leaves of that plant previously to the ashes being placed in it. With these leaves, possibly, might have been introduced the germ of insect life, the singular development of which has been described. A circumstance deserving of attention also presented itself in the examination of these remains. With the jiortions of human bone appeared fragments, which could confidentl}^ be pointed out as those of some small animal. Mr. Quekett was unable positively to assert the kind of creature to which they had belonged, but he stated his opinion that they pro- bably formed part of a small dog. It must be noticed, that only a small portion of the con- tents of the two urns were procm-ed and submitted to scientific examination. It is very probable that some of the remains originally placed in the larger urn had, in the con- fusion of opening the mound, without any proper care, been mixed with those of the smaller vase. This cannot now be ascertained, nor whether the remains were originally placed in chstinct receptacles respectively, but the facts now de- tailed are the result of the most careful investigation, and it appears certain that the deposit consisted of the remains of a person in the prime of life, probably a female, and of an infant newly born, or of the tenderest age. The existence of the remains of a dog in this deposit, although it cannot be affirmed positively, is by no means improbable. It is stated that the bones of dogs have repeatedly been discovered in the tumuh opened in Wiltshire; it may suffice to advert to an instance which occurred during