A HISTORY OF SUSSEX Some interesting deductions were made by Mr. Horton-Smith ^ from the examination of fourteen skulls from High Down, Sussex, presented to the Cambridge University Anatomical Museum by Mr. C. H. Read. The fact that many Saxon ornaments had been found with them leaves no doubt as to the age of the burials ; and comparison with West Saxon and other skulls shows that the Sussex specimens uniformly exhibit certain peculiarities which may throw some light on the character of the Teutonic conquest of this district. The craniological details which form the basis of his arguments were supplied by Mr. Horton-Smith himself ; and his results accord so well with the scanty but equally trustworthy evidence of archaeology, that no excuse is needed for intro- ducing this factor in the elucidation of early Sussex. Broadly speaking, the amount of Teutonic blood in a given subject varies directly in this country with the comparative length of the skull from back to front ; and it may be regarded as a leading principle in British craniology that the intermixture of Teutonic immigrants with the original occupants of the soil may be estimated by the variation of the skull from the average Anglo-Saxon type. By this method it appears that the South Saxons were of a purer type than their fellows of the west. While the sea-board of Wessex compared with the size of the kingdom was anything but extensive, intermarriage with the Romanized Britons would in all probability have proceeded rapidly and have left its mark in a modification of feature and skull form. Sussex on the other hand consisted in the early days of little more than the sea- coast, and was doubtless occupied by relays of Saxons, who must have intermarried to some extent with the natives, but retained the Teutonic type in comparative purity. The fusion of race is much more notice- able among the West Saxons, as Dr. Beddoe has also observed. According to that authority the Saxon type is very conspicuous about Chichester, the starting-point of the Conquest. Regular features, elliptic head and face, brows moderately arched, nose straight and often rounded or bul- bous at the point, mouth well moulded, complexion fair and transparent, eyes well opened, the iris seldom large, of a beautiful clear blue, but sometimes brown or hazel, hair flaxen or brown of various shades, seldom bright, curly or abundant.^ A discovery further west has still to be noticed. In the neighbour- hood of Arundel several Anglo-Saxon barrows were opened near a spot called 'Friday's Church' on the Downs in 1893-4. Besides skeletons the only finds were two iron knives and a small bronze pin. The slightly raised mound called Friday's Church was found to consist of a rough platform of large flints embedded in clay. A small spring of water is at the foot of the hill, and it has been suggested that the spot was originally dedicated to Freya, the present name being a corruption.^ The discoveries so far described belong to a period before the • Journal of Anthropological Institute, vol. xxvl. p. 82. 2 Races of Britain, pp. 256-7. ' Communicated by Mr. H. C. Collyer, of Beddington.
