Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/257

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BRITISH ETHNOLOGY
249

dolichocephalic heads—a statement which is supported on archæological evidence, as, for example, a number of skulls found at Danes' Graves, Arras, etc., in Yorkshire. A skull from one of the Arras tumuli, and containing relics characteristic of the Late Celtic period, is described by Dr. Thurnam as having a cephalic index of 73⋅7. They were a branch of the later Celts or Galli, whose very name at one time was a terror in Europe. Classical writers describe them as very tall and fierce looking, with fair hair, blond complexion and blue eyes.

The next and last of the racial elements, which entered into the ethnic composition of the British people of to-day, were the successive Teutonic invasions from Germany, Denmark and Scandinavia, all belonging to a tall, blond, dolichocephalic people who existed in Central Europe from time immemorial—possibly the descendants of the Cro-Magnon race of the late Palæolithic Age.


Conclusion

From these facts and observations we see that at the dawn of Neolithic civilization there extended over Western Europe a primitive population living on shell-fish, the produce of the chase, seeds, fruits, roots, etc., varying according to the natural resources of the environment. At an early stage their domestic economy was of a low order, having only