had not penetrated the gums. Behind this skeleton, and in the very angle of the chamber, was a pile of fragments of pottery.
No. 2. Almost in the centre of the floor was the skeleton of a man of about fifty years of age, of large and powerful frame, the humerus thirteen inches and the thigh-bone twenty inches in length. The teeth were very much eroded, the bones thick and heavy. A fracture, probably the death-wound, extended from one temple to the other, through the forehead into the right cheek, entirely severing the malar bone, which had fallen off below the skull, and was preserved by the clay in which it was embedded, of an ivory-like hardness, contrasting strongly with the light friable character of the bones from which it had been separated.[1] The skull, somewhat large and flat, was of an elongated oval form.
No. 3. Behind the last, and near the south-west corner of the chamber, was the skeleton of a man of medium stature, from thirty to thirty-five years of age. The skull, which bears no marks of injury, is of a beautifully regular and somewhat lengthened oval form. The lower jaw was found at the distance of a foot or more from the skull, and at a lower level.
No. 4. In the north-west angle of the chamber was the skeleton of a man of middle size, about the same age as the last. The legs were flexed against the north wall. The thigh-bone measured seventeen and three-quarter inches. The skull faced the west, and the lower jaw was found about a foot nearer to the centre of the chamber, as if it had fallen from the skull in the process of decay. Being imbedded in the clayey floor, the jaw was singularly well preserved, of an ivory whiteness and density, and even retained distinct traces of the natural oil or medulla. The form of the skull is a decidedly elongated and narrow oval, differing much from that usual in ancient British skulls from the circular barrows of Wilts and Dorset. All its characteristics are more marked; but it bears a singular resemblance, especially in the face, to skull No. 3; and, like that, presents no marks of violence. Lying over this skull was a small slab of sarsen stone, and beneath this two fragments of a fine and peculiar black pottery, (see wood-cut, fig. 8,) neatly marked with lattice lines, corresponding fragments of which were found in a distant part of the chamber. Near the skull, was a curious implement of black flint, a sort of circular knife with a short projecting handle, the edges elaborately chipped.[2] (wood-cut, fig. 11.) This skeleton was perhaps that of the chief for
- ↑ That the malar bone had really been severed before burial, and probably during life, is curiously proved by an angular fragment of this bone, which remains attached to the superior maxillary, and has the same yellow colour and friable character as the rest of the skull.
- ↑ This implement is that referred to in the Archæological Journal, vol. xvii. p. 170. It is slightly concave
