EARLY MAN evidences of an unusual method of sepulture differing from any other that had previously been noticed. It was clear that the bodies had been intentionally subjected to the action of fire upon the spot where they lay, in such a manner as to preserve the bones in their natural order, entire and unwarped by the heat. The bones, which were of both sexes, were surrounded by charcoal and earth, to which a red colour had been imparted by the operation, themselves exhibiting a curious variety of tints from the same cause. They were accompanied simply by some chips of flint and one piece of primitive pottery. 12. Two contracted and much decayed skeletons inclosed within a rude kind of cist, and accompanied by ' a few mean implements of flint,' were found in a barrow at Stanton. 1 3. Another cist-burial was discovered in a barrow called Ribden Low, situated between the villages of Cotton and Caldon. There were actually two cist-burials in the mound, and the objects found with the skeletons com- prised three barbed arrow-heads of flint, three large flint implements, five bone implements, and two very small pieces of bronze slightly ornamented. The bone implements were of peculiar interest from the fact that some were pointed at each end and perforated through the middle, and had apparently been used as netting tools. 14. A barrow of unusual form near the village or Calton, opened in 1849, was found to contain evidence of repeated interments dis- tributed throughout the area of the mound. The barrow was of the type designated ' Druid Barrows ' by Stukeley and Hoare. Charcoal and numerous calcined flint implements were found in association with the human remains. 15. In a barrow situated on an eminence called the Cop, near Calton, was found an interesting example of the careful interment of part of the head of an ox. It also contained (i) a small quadrangular cist, in which were the bones of a young person about twelve years of age ; (2) another small cist constructed of four flat stones ; and (3) still another cist of circular form. Within the small cist (2) was found the right half of the upper jaw of an ox, making the fifth instance of the intentional burial of ox bones, a circumstance which goes far to prove the existence of some peculiar super- stition or rite connected with the bones of that animal. 1 6. In a tumulus situated midway between Throwley and Calton, and composed almost entirely of burnt earth, was found a deposit of large pieces of calcined human bone placed within a circular hole in the natural soil about a foot deep. This hole was of well-defined shape, resulting from contact with a wooden or wicker-work vessel in which the bones were placed when buried. On the bones lay part of a small bronze pin, and a very beautiful miniature ' incense cup' 2 J in. high and 3 Jin. in diameter. Among the bones were found two small pointed pieces of flint and a quartz pebble, and close by the deposit were four other small heaps of calcined bone in the form of powder. 17. In a field called Stonesteads, a quarter of a mile from the village of Waterhouses, was a barrow in which the skeleton of a tall and strongly-built man was found lying on a pavement of thin flat stones raised 6 in. above the natural level of the ground. Near the feet was the tusk of a large boar
