li- CEANIA BEITANNICA. [CHAP. I I .
Biodonis's short notice of Britain is taken from a different point of view from tliat of the author
of the 'Commentaries' one speaks of the Britons of CornwaU and Devon, the other of those
only wth whom he came in contact, the people of Kent and the adjoining districts, whence
it is inferred, with great probability, that the authority of Diodorus was indii-ectly that of the
Phojnician traders * .
Strabo informs us that the Britons were taller than the Gauls, less yellow-hau-ed, and
slighter in their persons. As an instance of then- height, he adds, " We om-selves saw at Home
some youths who were taller by so much as haK a foot than the tallest there; but they were
distorted in theh- lower Hmbs, and in other respects not symmetrical in their conformation t . "
In another place, he says the inhabitants of the Cassiterides wore black cloaks, tunics reaching
to the feet, and girt about the breast, waUred about with staves, and were bearded like goats.
Both Diodorus and Strabo describe the Irish as more wUd or savage than the Britons, and as
voracious antliropophagi.
Tacitus is as Uttle communicative concerning the persons, the bodily and mental pecLiliarities,
of the primitive inhabitants of Britain. He says the fashion of theii- bodies varied, the
Cal¡donians having ruddy hair and large limbs, whilst the Silm-es were dai-k-complexioned and
had mostly curly looks. The former he characterizes as a fierce people, and the latter as
powerful and brave. He paints the strong love of liberty and independence which glowed in
the bosoms of the Britons, and recounts their impatience under oppression, their quick and
irascible temper, the accompaniment of an unsubdued spii-it.
Dion Cassius, in the abridgement by Xipliiline, describes Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, on
the occasion of her celebrated hai-angue, as a Briton of royal race, and breathing niore than
female spirit. " She was of the largest size, most terrible of aspect, most savage of countenance
and harsh of voice ; having a profiision of yeUow hair, which feU down to her hips, and wearing
a hiro-e golden coUar; she had on a parti-coloured floating vest drawn close about her bosom,
and over this she wore a thick mantle connected by a clasp." How many of these personal
attributes are mere dramatic accessories in the hands of the historian, it were difficult to
determine. ^ -, •, . , n
Herodian, describing the expedition of the Emperor Severus against the Caledomans, teUs
us "they know not the use of clothing, but encii-cle theii- loins and necks with ii-on; deeming
this an ornament and an evidence of opulence, in like manner as other barbarians esteem gold.
They puncture theii- bodies with pictm-ed forms of every sort of animals; on which account
they wear no clothing, lest they should hide the iigures on theh- body. They are a most warhke
and sangLiinary race, cai-rying only a smaU shield and a spear, and a sword gii-ded to then- naked
iVis only amongst even modern writers that any deflnite ideas of the form of the skuU of
the Britons and other ancient races are to be gleaned. We use the term advisedly where the
field is so ample and such a dearth of information prevaUs. Sii- R. C. Hoare, in his 'Account
of a Stone Barrow at Stoney Littleton in the county of Somerset,'—structures of this particular
* Ethnology of the British Islands, by R. G. Latham, M.D.,
p. 42, 1852.
t It has been remarked to us by an esteemed friend, that we
must not place too much rehance on Strabo's statement in
this particular, although it bears the character of a personal
observation. It seems most probable that he is referring to
the occasion of some Roman triumph, when an effort would
no doubt be made to produce the most striking effect, by
selecting the tallest of the British slaves to grace the ceremony.
X Monumenta Histórica Britannica, 1848.
CHAP. I I . ] VIEWS OE PRECEDING OBSERVERS. 15
kind are now more specificaUy named Chambered Barrows—incidentally intimates his view of
the form of the British skuU in one particular. " I shaU now request the attention of my
brother antiquaries, and especiaUy of those versed in the science of craniology, to the two slnills
discovered in this tumulus, which appear to be totaUy diflferent in their formation to any others
which our researches have led us to examine, being 'fronte valde depressa*.' " Tliis clearly
mdicates the Wiltshire antiquary's opinion that those he usually met with were not particularly
deficient in frontal elevation, an opinion which we shaU hereafter be able to test by examples,
some of which he had in his hands, and consigned them again to the Barrows.
Dr. Prichard says, " A considerable number of skulls have been found in barrows in
different parts of Britain, and a much greater number might be collected if pains were bestowed
upon this object. It might probably be not difficult to obtain a series of skuUs displaying the
national forms proper to each of the races of ancient Europe. The skuUs found ia old burialplaces
in Britain, which I have been enabled to examine, differ materially from the Grecian
model. The amplitude of the anterior parts of the cranium is very much less, giving a
comparatively small space for the anterior lobes of the brain. In this particular the ancient
inhabitants of Britam appear to have differed very considerably from the present. The latter,
either as the result of many ages of greater intellectual cultivation, or from some other cause,
have, as I am persuaded, much more capacious brain-cases than their forefathers f . " In another
place he relates, much to the same effect, " I have seen about half-a-dozen skulls, foimd in
different parts of England, in situations which rendered it highly probable that they belonged
to ancient Britons. AU these partook of one striking characteristic, viz. a remarkable narrowness
of the forehead compared with the occiput, giving a very small space for the anterior lobes
of the brain, and allowing room for a large development of the posterior lobes. There are some
modern English and Welsh heads to be seen of a shnilar form, but they are not nmnerous. It
is to be hoped that such specimens of the craniology of om- ancestors TNTII not be suffered to fall
into decay ; they are occasionally discovered in places where British towns formerly existed j . "
But in describing the Plates of the Volume in which this passage occurs, he makes the observation,—"
Some remains found in Britain give reason to suspect, that the Celtic inhabitants of
this coimtry had in early times something of the Mongolian or Turanian form of the head."
Of the Celtic family, who " are yet numerous in Britain, Scotland and Ireland, where in
certain districts they retain their primitive name of Gael," Dr. Morton remarks,—" The
features of these people are strongly marked. They are tall and athletic, and Uttle prone to
obesity, while their physical strength corresponds to their muscular proportions. They have
the head rather elongated, and the forehead narrow and but slightly arched: the brow is low,
straight and bushy; the eyes and hair are light, the nose and mouth large, and the cheek-bones
high. The general contour of the face is angular-, and the expression harsh. They are slow but
laborious, but endure fatigue beyond the sufferance of other men. In disposition they are
frank, generous and grateful, yet quick-tempered, pugnacious and brave to a proverb§." In
his subsequent researches to determine the capacity of the skuU, and the relative size of the
brain in cubic inches, he foimd from five examples the mean of the English cranium to be 96
cubic inches, and from sLs examples that of the native Irish 87 cubic inches ||.
* Archfcologia, xix. p. 47, 1821.
t Researches iuto the Physical History of Mankind, i. 305,
4th ed. 1851.
t Ibid. iii. ID!), 3rd ed. 1841.
§ Crania Americana. Introductory Essay, 16, 1839.
y Catalogue of Skulls in the Collection of S. G. Morton,
M,D., 3rd ed. viii. 1849.