Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/378

 234 SEPULCHRAL DEPOSIT IN HOLYHEAD ISLAND. the researches of the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare, near Everley, in that county.^ In this barrow the skeleton of the dog was not, indeed, laid with the burnt remains of his master ; it lay above them, much nearer the surface, but there can be little question that, as Sir Richard remarked, the deceased, whose bones were found surrounded by a wreath of the horns of the red deer, with several arrow-heads of flint among the ashes, had been skilled in the chase, and that his faithful attendant had been interred over his grave. The bones of the horse have also repeatedly been found in British tumuli.^ These usages in our country are strikingly in accordance with the ancient practice of the Gauls, recorded by Ccesar, who states that the funerals of that people were not devoid of sumptuous ceremony, and that they threw upon the pile every object, and even those animals which the deceased, when living, had regarded with attachment. " Funera sunt, pro cultu Gallorum, magnifica, et sumptuosa ; omniaque, quae vivis cordi fuisse arbitrantur, in ignem in- ferunt, etiam animalia." ^ The deposit of an urn of diminutive size, enclosed within one of large dimensions, is a circum- stance specially deserving of notice, as of exceedingly rare occurrence in the investigation of British interments. The usual character of such deposits in Wales is thus given by Pennant, in his account of Llanarmon, Flintshire. " Sepul- chral tumuli" (he observes) "are very frequent in this parish. I was present at the opening of one, composed of loose stones and earth, covered with a layer of soil about 2 feet thick, and over that a coat of verdant turf In the course of our search were discovered, towards the middle of the tumulus, several urns made of sun-burnt clay, of a reddish colour on the outside, black within, being stained with the ashes they contained. Each was placed with the mouth downwards on a flat stone ; above each was another, to preserve them from being broken by the weight above. Mixed with the loose stones were numerous fragments of bones, such as parts of the thigh bones, the arm bones, and even a skull. These had escaped the effects of the fire of the funeral pile, and were deposited about the urns, which contained the residuum of the corpse that had been reduced to pure ashes." ^ 2 Ancient Wilts, vol. i., p. lf{4. See posterior to the primary deposit, the account of bari-ovvs opened near ^ Ancient Wilts, vol. i., p. 86. Amesbury, pp. 124, 125 ; and at Wilsford, •* C^aes. Comment., lib. vi., c. 19. pp. 20(i, 216. The skcleton.s of the dogs ■'' Tour in Wales, vol. i., p. 381. were usually found above, as if interred