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230 CRANIA BEITANNICA. [CHAP. IX.
tliese are marked by differences of capacity, and an infinite variety of diverse forms, many of
Avhicli liave not yet been properly studied, and wbioh. tax the utmost ingenuity to describe. Tlie
slculls of the ancient Britons, whicli have absorbed so much of our attention, must be allowed
to occupy an intermediate position between the two extremes, a place almost equally removed
from both. They are more than tolerably capacious, they are moderately elevated and not ill
developed in their anterior regions ; but, at the same time, they are somewhat bony in their
aspect, perhaps disproportionately large in their posterior and inferior regions, sometimes harsh ;
with that ridgy ruggedness of form and of face which indicates their having belonged to a race
not highly developed in mental and moral manifestations, though far removed in these respects
from the lowest and least cultivable tribes of people.
Our colleague has gone into a more complete and critical examination of the manners,
customs, productions, relations, and higher aspirations of the ancient British people than has
probably ever been attempted before—we believe, in a very able and, upon the whole, satisfactory
manner. As one of the results, it may be remarked that this searching investigation brings
out conclusions strictly conformable with those deduced from the cranial organization. This
display of their usages, theii- arts, arms, trade, and religion—the latter, as described, probably
exhibiting the influence of extraneous modifications, and referable to the latter portion of their
epoch—whilst it fully accords with the history, such as we have it, of this vigorous, bold, and
ingenious race, shows unequivocally that they were equally removed from the condition of abject
savages and from that of the highly civilizable peoples who have succeeded them on the soil.
The essential and ineradicable differences of race are indisputable. The great instrument of
amelioration, namely the mingling of blood, has been the cMef means of insensibly modifying
the harsh and prominent features of race-character—now scarcely to be recognized, unless by a
nice discrimination and in remote and secluded parts of the islands.
As an instance of the special powers of adaptability among the ancient Britons, we may
allude to their coinage. When the Phoeoean colony of Massilia was established, about B.C. 600,
and after its mercantile intercourse with the more northern tribes of Gaul had become developed,
the coins of the parent Greek states came to the knowledge of the Gauls and at last by extension
to that of the Britons. The imitation of these coins seems to have been very soon fixed upon as
a resource for facilitating native trade—fii-st among the Gaulish tribes, and afterwards equally
by the rulers of those British tribes which were nearest to Gaul and more particularly devoted
to commerce. It is considered by the highest authority that this imitation commenced about
B.c. 150, at all events at a period antecedent to the invasion of the island by Julius Caesar. It
was extensively adopted, first by the tribes of Kent and along the south-eastern coasts, gradually
spreading westward and northward, still chiefly among the maritime people, whose commercial
requirements especially demanded a coinage. Ultimately many of the reguli of these regions
issued coins. At first they were uninscribed, and afterwards inscribed with their names in a
contracted form, and often theii- relationship to a more famous ancestor added, in the manner of
some Roman money. They were chiefly of the precious metals, but also of copper and of tin,
and are of so many different types, almost every one of which presents varieties, that their study
has of late risen to be an important branch of numismatics *. It is true that they were feeble
imitations, which in the progress of the system of copying from imitations became more and
more degenerate, and less and loss resembled the original. Still they admit of being adduced as
* See the learned and elegant treatise upon this subject, in which the ntmost light is concentrated upon it, entitled " The
Coins of the Ancient Britons," by John Evans, 1864.
CHAP. IS. ] CONCLUSION. 237
a vaKd argument for the capabilities of the race which perceived their advantages, and so ingeniously
adapted them to their service. There is no like instance among the inferior races
of man. That remarkable people, so distinct from all others, appropriated to the Australian
continent,'has never made such an effort either spontaneously or by imitation, and it is quite incapable
of making it. The very various races of the Oceanic islands, some of which from their
peculiar qualities, especially the facility they evince for receiving some form of Christianity, have
been regarded as highly civihzable, are equally ignorant of any monetary system, and have failed
to adopt one when offered to their notice by commercial nations. The innumerable races of
America are, and have been, almost equally devoid of a money currency. The most highly
developed, the Mexicans, are said to have had, besides transparent quills filled with gold-dust,
pieces of copper cut into the form of the letter T, and also thin pieces of tin for use as coins *.
This is probably the only instance of any approach to a metallic currency among the native
peoples of America. Some of the Negro tribes of Africa, besides cowry shells, salt, gold-dust,
and iron bars, employ penannular ring money, both of gold and of bronze, which when used as
circulatmg media are estimated by weight. Although almost all expert metallurgists, it is
doubtful whether any African tribe has yet advanced to the minting of coins. Oriental races
have also used cowry shells, salt, gold-dust, and other articles as media for facilitating exchange,
and many have formed metallic currencies ; so that it is to these, rather than to any of the
preceding races, that we might liken the ancient Britons, at the time when they first appear in
the distinct pages of history.
Our researches respecting the ancient Britons, though primarily eraniological, have been in
reality much more ; they have also been antiquarian, historical, and philosophical t. It is satisfactory
to perceive that in whatever light this famous people has been viewed, it always presents
the same embodiment of capabilities, and a similar development of powers. The ancient Britons
had dwelt very long in the islands, following the free lives of hunters, and to a limited extent
cultivating the soilj ; they lived in small settlements, were warlike and quite able to defend their
homes ; they had ingeniously accepted the resom-ces nature offered to their hands, wrought them
with unlimited diligence, and risen from the use of stone to that of metallic implements ; and
they were ready to avail themselves, by imitation, of the improvement in arts and arms resulting
from a contact with the superior races who surrounded them. It would not be difficult to
compare them with the AustraKans, the North American Indians, with the tribes of Africa or
Oceania ; with many of these common features might be pointed out ; but certainly among none
of them w-ould it be possible to indicate any one people very closely resembhng the ancient Britons.
If we revert to the size of the brain as a test of the mental capacity of a race, which, as we have
remarked, is valid evidence, we shall find that the results embodied in the Tables fuUy sui^port
the high position claimed for the ancient Britons. The average weight of the brain in 145
adult men and women, computed from our Tables I. and II., is equal to 76-6 ounces of sand.
* M'^Culloch, ' Researches concerning the Aboriginal History
of America,' 182D, p. 193. Wilson's ' Prehistoric Man,'
1862, vol. i. p. 304.
f Without being craniological merely, the contents of this
work will, we believe, prove the essential value of a rational
cranioscopy.
As to the highest purpose of archteology itself, we have the
testimony of the late and deeply lamented Mr. llhind, in the
following passage : —Re s e a r c h e s of this kind are the essential
pabulum, the necessary element of that scientific progress in
ethnological inquiry, which alone imparts dignity, utihty, and
solid value to antiquarian pursuits."—British Archteology,
its Progress and Demands, 1858, p. 8. See also the elegant
and affectionate Memoir of A. Henry Rhind, of Sibster, by
John Stuart, I8G4, p. 9.
t Even in the extreme north, in Orkney, in the ruins of the
Picts' houses charred barley or " here " has been met with.
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