l ( i CBANIA BRITANNICA. [OHAP. II. Ohap. II.] VIEWS OE PRECEDING OBSERVERS. 17
Mr. Wilde, in his instructive ' Lectm-e on the Ethnology of the Ancient Irish,' has endeavoured
to distinguish the primitive inhabitants of that country by peculiarities in their mode of
sepultvire. Of the first, or " those found in the pyramidal structures with the stone passages,"
such as New Grange (Chambered Barrows), he says, not having seen their remains, he cannot
speak as to their form of cranium. Yet, in one place, describing Prof. Eschricht's Danish Barrows
of the earliest stone-period, and the skuUs obtained fi-om them, he appears to allude to the
analogies of the latter with the crania from these chambered barrows of Ireland, and denominates
them " the globular-headed Irish." The second form of burial is " the Cromlech, where
the stone chamber under the centre of a mound is not approached by a passage as in the pyi-amidal
structure at Grange or Rush, and contains one or more skeletons placed in a horizontal
or recumbent posture." They are at times accompanied with m-ns containing incinerated
human bones. Examples of skulls from these sepulchres "are chiefly characterized by their
extreme length from before backwards, or what is technically termed their antero-posterior
diameter, and the flatness of their sides, and in this and most other respects they correspond
with the second form of head discovered in the Danish sepulchres," but yet diifer in not being
associated with metallic objects, but only with those of stone, bone, shell or clay. The skuUs
of these " long-headed aborigines of Ireland * * * present the same marked characters in their
facial aspect, and the projecting occiput and prominent frontal sinuses as the Danish ones. The
nose, in common with aU the truly Irish heads I have examined, presents the most marked
peculiarities, and evidently must have been very prominent, or what is usually termed aquiline.
With this we have evidence of the teeth having been slightly projecting, and the chm square,
weU-marked, and also prominent; so that, on the whole, this race must have possessed peculiarly
weU-marked features and an intelligent physiognomy. The forehead is low, but not retreating.
The molar teeth are remarkably ground down upon their crowns, and the attachments of the
temporal muscles are exceedingly weU marked." He afterwards recounts his meeting with two
crania derived from the Uley Barrow in Gloucestershire, the more perfect of which forms the
subject of one of oui- Plates, and wiU give the reader a demonstration of Mr. WUde's conception.
These he "at once claimed as fellow-countrymen," i. e. we conclude, of the same form as "the
long-headed aborigines of Ireland," if not belonging to the same race. He then goes on to say,
" Now we find similar conditions of head stiU existing among the modern inhabitants of this
country, particularly beyond the Shannon, towards the west, where the dark or Eir Bolg race
may still be traced, as distinct from the more globular-headed, light-eyed, fair-haired, Celtic
people who lie to the north-east of that river," Erom the whole of this recital we should infer
that Mr. WUde considers he has met mt h the remains of two races of people in the earliest
primeval barrows of Ireland, the descendants of both of which are still to be seen in particular
districts of the island; that these correspond, both in physical attributes and order of succession,
to the two primitive races of Denmark of Prof. Eschricht; and are distinguished by the first
possessing brachy-cephalic, and the second doUcho-cephalic crania. But when he comes to
speak of " the third form of burial" in Ireland, still of the stone-period, some confusion appears
to have entered into the recital, from his stating that these sepulchres contain " the relics of the
second race of people." However this may be, in " the tliird form of burial," the vault is " a
Kistvaen, or small stone chamber, roofed either with a single flag, or covered in with that form
of arch resembling a bee-hive dome. There is no tumulus or heap of earth to mark the site of
these scpulclu-es." In these, " the skull is much better proportioned, Mghcr, more globular,
and in every respect approaching more to the highest forms of the Indo-European variety of the
Caucasian race." And in describing a beautiful cranium derived from what is called a " Danish
Rath," within 150 yards of the rock of Dunmaise, and belonging to the people of this "third
form of burial," ho observes, " I fear not to assert that in symmetry and general development it
comes up to some of the finest Grecian models, though the general capacity of the head is small,
but it may have belonged to a small race or a small individual." Mr. Wilde's "fourth, and last
form of burial," or " Urn sepulchre," need not detain us, as the author appears not to regard it
as having the distinct character of the others; and the cranial remains derived from the urns
having been incinerated, totally preclude aU comparison of forms *.
The learned naturalist and antiquary. Professor S. Nilsson of Lund, has thought that the
primitive inhabitants of Scandinavia admit of being distinguished by then- remains into three
successive races, the last of which is supposed to be of Celtic origin, and therefore may be
compared with our ancient Britons, unless the same succession be admitted to have taken place
in these islands, a doctrine that has been already assumed. The aboriginal people he considers
were savages living by hunting and fishing, using stone and bone implements; and distinguished
by possessing short skulls, prominent at the parietal tuberosities, and broad and flattened at the
occiput (the brachy-cephalic cranium of Prof. A. Retzius). The next invading race he thinks were
agriculturists ; and possessed a lengthened and oval skull, having a narrow and prominent occiput
(the doUcho-cephalic cranium of Prof. A. Retzius). And the thh-d, or as he presumes Celtic
race, which introduced bronze, had an intermediate form of the cranium, longer than the first
and broader than the second, and wdthal prominent at the sides. It is, according to Prof.
NUsson, to a fom'th wave of population, to use a current expression, that the jsresent inhabitants
of Scandinavia, the workers of u-on (the true Swea race), chiefly owe their origin t-
Another celebrated ethnologist of the north, the excellent Prof. A. Retzius of Stockholm,
appears um-eservedly to participate in the opinions of Nilsson. These are, that a people, of
whom the present Lapps are the last remnant in Scandinavia, in the most remote antiquity
inhabited not merely the southern part of Sweden, but also the rest of northern and western
Europe, Denmark, northern Germany, the British Isles, a part of Erance, &c. On philological
groimds, the Basques or Euscaldunes, believed to be the representatives of the Iberians, are
regarded as another remnant of this primeval race, which it is considered inhabited the whole
* A Lecture on the Ethnology of fhe Ancient Irish, passim.
t Skandinayiska Nordens Ur-InT&nare. See the Report of
the British AsHOciation, 18-47.
In a letter addressed to Dr. Thuniam, dated Oct. 1850, Professor
Nilsson, alluding to the form of the Celtic cranmm,
says, " I consider nothmg more uncertain and vague than
this denomination ; for hardly two authors have the same
opinion in the matter. It would indeed he very desirable, if
in England, where it might most conveniently be done, one
could come to a proper understanding as to what constitutes
the Celtic form of cranium, and afterwards impressions in
plaster of Paris be taken of such a cranium as might serve as
a type for this race. If any Ethnographical Society in England
would take the trouble to have casts taken of crania from
the different races which have lived in that country, such as
Anglo-Saxons, Britons, Kelts, Scottish Highlanders, and the
inhabitants of Wales, it would indeed be to accelerate in a
high degree the development of our new science of comparative
ethnography." In another letter to the writer, dated
Lund, Sept. 22, 1854, Nilsson further expresses his views bearing
upon these subjects:—"C'est surtout de l'Angleterre
qu'on peut attendre des enseiguemens sur plusieurs races, dont
parlent les Romains et d'après eux les écrivains modernes,
sans qu'on eu a pn, jusqu'ici, nettement fixer la notion. Il y
a là dessu une grande confusion, qni sera, sans aucune doute,
dcbrouillce par votre ouvrage. C'est pour cela qu'on doit
féhciter la science ethnologique de cet ouvrage, qui jettera
une claire lumière sur les temps avant-historiques, non seulement
pour l'Angleterre, mais aussi pour la Scandinavie, qui
sans doute ont eu leurs hahitans primitifs des mêmes races."
We trust it is no trespass upon private correspondence to give
these sentiments of this distinguished author, who was, we believe,
the first, or one of the first, to draw attention to the inquiries
in question in the Scandinavian north. At the same
time, no one more than the writer can feel the onerous responsibility
of Nilsson's much too complimentary, and very much
too confident expectations in the result of the present work ;
his estimate of the importance of which, however, it is highly
gratifying to record.