Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/226

218 Grimspound, one of the most perfect settlements on Dartmoor, lies in a semicircular depression in the form of an oval enclosure (154 by 121 yards), and surrounded by a double stone wall which, even in its present ruined condition, rises three or four feet above the surface. Inside this enclosure are the remains of twenty-four hut-circles, two of which are thus described (as seen after excavation) by Mr. Robert Burnard. One of them "is nearly 11 feet in diameter, with a doorway 2 feet 9 inches wide, protected by a low curved wall which was probably roofed. Entering the hut, there is on the right-hand side a raised dais or platform, standing eight inches above the floor of hard trodden-in subsoil. This is supposed to have formed a couch, and with rushes and heather made a comfortable prehistoric bed. Opposite the door is the hearth, and near it a cooking-hole lined with stones set on edge. Almost in the centre of the hut is a small flat stone, which may have served as an anvil for cracking bones, etc., on; or it may have been a footstone for a post supporting the roof. Much wood charcoal was found in this dwelling, together with fragments of flint. No pottery was observed. The other hut—not quite ten feet in diameter—had its floor paved and contained a small cooking-hole and much charcoal. A broken flint knife, much used,was found near the fireplace."

Of the débris of such dwellings scattered