Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/414

398 of the circular chambered barrows was retained through various changes in the sepulchral customs of the people, and we find it used both in connection with burnt and with uuburnt burials. It was the natural result of the practice of cremation, however, that it should induce a modification of the barrow structure. The chamber, no longer regarded as a habitation to be tenanted by the deceased, became simply a cist for the reception of the urn which held his ashes. The degradation of the chamber naturally produced a corresponding degradation of the mound which covered it, and the barrows of the Bronze Age, in which cremation was the rule, are smaller and less imposing than those of the Stone Age, but often surprisingly rich in the relics of the life and of the art workmanship of the time. In addi tion to the varied and beautiful forms of implements and weapons, frequently ornamented with a high degree of artistic taste, armlets, coronets, or diadems of solid gold, and vases of elegant form and ornamentation in gold and bronze, are not uncommon. The barrows of the Bronze Period, like some of those of the Stone Age, appear to have been used as tribal or family cemeteries. In Denmark as many as seventy deposits of burnt interments have been observed in a single mound, indicating its use as a burying- place throughout a long succession of years. In the early Iron Age there was a partial return to the more massive construction of the earlier periods. Some times chambers are found formed of timber instead of stones, in which the bodies were deposited unburnt, although the custom of cremation was largely continued. In Scandinavia both of these modes of sepulture lingered till the close of the Pagan time. One of the latest examples of the great timber-chambered barrow is that at Jellinge in Jutland, known as the barrow of Thyre Danebod, queen of King Gorm the Old, who died about the middle of the 10th century. It is a mound about 200 feet in diameter, and over 50 feet in height, containing a chamber 23 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 5 feet high, formed of massive slabs of oak. Though it had been entered and plundered in the Middle Ages, a few relics, overlooked by its original violators, were found when it was recently reopened, among which were a silver cup, ornamented with the interlacing work characteristic of the time, and some personal ornaments. It is highly illustrative of the tenacity with which the ancient sepulchral usages were retained even after the introduction of Christianity that King Harald, son and successor of Gorm the Old, who is said to have Christianized all Denmark and Norway, followed the Pagan custom of erecting a chambered tumulus over the remains of his father, on the summit of which was placed a rude pillar-stone, bearing on one side the memorial inscrip tion in Eunes, and on the other a representation of the Saviour of mankind distinguished by the crossed nimbus surrounding the head. The Kings Hows at Upsala in Sweden rival those of Jelliuge in size and height. In the chamber of one of them, which was opened in 1829, there was found an urn full of calcined bones ; and along with it were some ornaments of gold showing the characteristic workmanship of the 5th and Cth centuries of the Christian era. Along with the calcined human bones were bones of animals, among which those of the horse and the dog were distinguished. In much earlier times the favourite horse or dog of the deceased was frequently deposited in Etruscan tombs, and the custom continued in Northern Europe until cremation, and the barbarous rites which usually accompanied it, were abolished by the stringent prohibitions of the Christian church. Comparing the results of the researches in European barrows with such notices of barrow-burial as may be gleaned from early writings, we find them mutually illustrative. The Homeric account of the building of the barrow of Hector (Il. xxiv.) brings vividly before us the scene so often suggested by the examination of the tumuli of pre historic times. During nine days wood was collected and brought, in carts drawn by oxen, to the site of the funeral pyre. Then the pyre was built and the body laid upon it. After burning for twenty-four hours the smouldering embers were extinguished with libations of wine. The white and calcined bones were then picked out of the ashes by the friends and placed in a metallic urn, which was deposited in a hollow grave, or cist, and covered over with large well-fitting stones. Finally, a barrow of great magnitude was heaped over the remains, and the funeral feast was celebrated. The obsequies of Achilles, as described in the Odyssey, were also celebrated with details which are strikingly similar to those observed in tumuli both of the Bronze and Iron Ages. The body was brought to the pile in an embroidered robe, and jars of unguents and honey were placed beside it. Sheep and oxen were slaughtered at the pile. The incinerated bones were collected from the ashes and placed in a golden urn along with those of Patroclus, Achilles s dearest friend. Over the remains a great and shapely mound was raised on the high headland, so that it might be seen from afar by future generations of men. Herodotus, describing the funeral customs of the Scythians, states that, on the death of a chief, the body was placed upon a couch in a chamber sunk in the earth and covered with timber, in which were deposited all things needful for the comfort of the deceased in the other world. One of his wives was strangled and laid beside him, his cup bearer and other attendants, his charioteer, and his horses, were killed and placed in the tomb, which was then filled up with earth, and an enormous mound raised high over all. The barrows which cover the plains of ancient Scythia attest the truth of this description. A Siberian barrow, described by Demidoff, contained three contiguous chambers of unhewn stone. In the central chamber lay the skeleton of the ancient chief, with his sword, his spear, his bow, and a quiver full of arrows. The skeleton reclined upon a sheet of pure gold, extending the whole length of the body, which had been wrapped in a mantle broidered with gold and studded with precious stones. Over it was extended another sheet of pure gold. In a smaller cham ber at the chief s head lay the skeleton of a female, richly attired, extended upon a sheet of pure gold, and similarly covered with a sheet of the same metal. A golden chain adorned her neck, and her arms were encircled with brace lets of pure gold. In a third chamber, at the chief s feet, lay the skeleton of his favourite horse with saddle, bridle, and stirrups. So curiously alike in their general features were the sepulchral usages connected with barrow-burial over the whole of Europe, that we find the Anglo-Saxon Saga of Beowulf describing the chambered tumulus with its gigantic masonry &quot; held fast on props with vaults of stone,&quot; and the passage under the mound haunted by a dragon, the guardian of the treasures of heathen gold which it con tained. Beowulf s own burial is minutely described in terms which have a strong resemblance to the parallel passages in the Iliad and Odyssey. There is first the pre paration of the pile, which is hung round with helmets, shields, and coats of mail. Then the corpse is brought and laid in the midst ; the pile is kindled, and the roaring flame rises, mingled with weeping, till all is consumed. Then, for ten long days, the warriors labour at the rearing of his mighty mound on the headland, high and broad, to be seen afar by the passers by on land and sea. The pyramids of Egypt, the inausolea of the Lydian kings, the sepulchres of the Atreidse at Mycenae, and the Etruscan tombs at Ceere and Volci, are lineally descended 