M B
CRANIA BRITANNICA. [CHAP. I.
the discrimmation and elucidation of the various ancient Races who have dwelt in the
British Islands, the forerunners at least, if not the progenitors, of a people who may he
safely assnmed to occupy a place in future history inferior to none who have preceded them.
The investigation of the facts connected with these races is involved in obscurity, from^
theh' remoteness in time; the want of information to he derived from the scanty notices of
ancient wi-iters, whether the consequence of imperfect knowledge, or inaccm-ate observation,
or their use of ill-imderstood general terms; and especiaUy fi-om the fancifvil speculations
of learned theorists. It is designed to adopt a more exact method, at the risk of even far
less apparent fertility of results, and to examine the personal remains of these people
carefully and extensively, hoping by such a procedure at least to acquire authentic materials
and more reUable dat^. As the principles of gentilitial cranioscopy are at present by no
means mature, and as the Ughts to be derived from this new source may not be so ample
and clear as might be wished, it is proper to enter upon such an tmdertaldng in a spn-it
of modest reserve, and to pm-sue it with cautious inference. Regarding knowledge as
the object, patient diligence and unfettered candour are equaUy needful to di:-eot us in its
attainment.
Seeing how the personal relics of the dead have been ahnost universally disregarded
in excavating ancient cemeteries, it may he proper to state, that the original design of the
present work was merely to step in, rescue, and perpetuate the faithful lineaments of a
sufficient number of the skuUs of the ancient races of Britain to preserve authentic data for
the future: the fLilfllment of this object ^viU at least satisfy the intention of the fii-st
conception of the authors-wiU accomplish the end with which they primarily set out. ^ It
is truly surprising how great the destruction of liiunan crania, aU-important for our design,
has been, and how rapidly aU such genuine remains of the Britons, Romans and Anglo-
Saxons are now escaping from the grasp of science. The progressive enclosure of our
^dld tracts, the extension of cidtivation, and the introduction of a more perfect agricvilture,
have in modem times destroyed multitudes of the oldest sepulchres, and aU that they
contained. And it is unfortunate that the researches of antiquaries, who have opened
barrows and excavated cemeteries Avith inquiring eyes, have been almost equally fatal to
the cranial remains of theii- occupants. Ai-ms, personal ornaments, and other relics
deposited with the dead have generally engrossed attention, to the exclusion of the tender
and fragile bones of their possessors. These latter require a care and instruction for their
coUection and preservation which it were vain to expect fi-om ordinary barrow-diggers, in
whose eyes they are usiiaUy esteemed valueless, if not objects of superstitious awe. Smce
the period when Sir Thomas Browne descanted with such quaint vigom- on ancient modes
of sepulture, upon the occasion of the discovery of funereal urns in Norfollc, what inmiense
numbers of primeval interments must have been disturbed, accidentaUy or mtentionaUy, m
this country; and yet, how exceedingly few of the objects of our study have been gathered
up and preserved!—so few, that it is not easy to pomt to any incUvidual examples, except
such as have been coHected in our own day; and even amongst these, instances of careful
and proper conservation are of the utmost rarity*.
As the guardian of that ray divine, which is essentially "the image" of Ms Creator,
* 4.11 archaeologists have not been actuated by the same mo- 0. Hoare had them reinterred in their old resting-places with
lives in disregarding the skulls of the sepnlchres. Sir Richard reverend respect, but most others have treated them as utterly
•ir-
CHAP. I.] INTRODUCTION.
the receptacle of the grand yet delicate centre of his nervous system, the skull has for some
time been recognized as the best epitome of Man*. The human cranium stands immensely
pre-eminent before all others. Its distmguishing characters have been elaborated with the
nicest discrimination by Professor Owen, in a comparison of the skuUs of the Negro and
the Gorilla, " the most anthropoid of all known brutes t-"
That its forms are permanent, and not transmutable in the different Races, may equaUy
be esteemed as a postulate. The peculiarities impressed on the true Negro head ia the days
of ancient Egypt or ancient Etrm-ia, are stiU inherently attached to it. So of other races, as far
as they have been examined with precision by the aid of sufficient materials f. This fundamental
axiom may be regarded as a fixed star whereby to direct our steps ia the present
inquiry ; almost the sole light shining with steadfastness.
It should, however, be premised that not every skull presents the typical ethnic peculiarities
; they are rather to be deduced from an examination of many. The most cursory
observation is sufficient to perceive a considerable variety of form of head in the same nation,
tribe, or even family. A more careful investigation will develope the limits of this variety, and
enable us to determine the central point ronnd wliich variation revolves. We ought, therefore,
to be prepared to find diversities of form in any one given people, however ancient. This is in
accordance with what we observe in all the other departments of nature. And it has been the
assumption of the absolute universality of ethnical forms that has been the source of many
speculations,—speculations of learned, and even accm-ate minds, not restrained by the perception
of the wonderful variety of natural appearances within the range of a logical uniformity.
We have said above "however ancient," for it has been often taken for granted that by
ascending to prbnitive pre-civilized times we shaU find the crania of the fii'st wanderers over
the broad earth uniformly " stereotyped" after a given model. An assumption not unreasonable
or improbable at first view, and countenanced by many respectable authorities § ;
but which we shall subsequently discover does not agree with the phenomena observed.
I t has been maintained by Professor M. J. Weber, that there aïe certain definite normal
forms of the skull concurrent with the foui- first Blumenbachian race-forms, which occur in all
nations and races, with this only difference, that one form prevails more in one land or race,
devoid of interest, whilst tlie eliippings of a flint arrow, or tlie
rusted nail of a coffin, itself transformed to a carbonaceous
dust, have been esteemed fit for a place in the cabinet.
To instance the rapidity with which cranial remains must
be finally disappearing, we may allude to two extensive barrowdiggers,
both of whom reckon to have regarded skulls not unworthy
of collection. One in the northern part of the kingdom
has opened nearly five hundred barrows, and even makes
accoimt to place Crania in his cabinet. Yet the visitor who
may avail himself of the politeness of its possessor to examine
the objects exhumed from this large number of sepulchres, will
be mortified to find the cranial relics are so fragmentary and
trifling as to be utterly worthless. Another extensive barrow
digger in the South of England, whose researches have
ranged over a country more than thirty miles in length on
the South Downs, and who has disinterred thousands of relics,
can only point to a very few imperfect skulls saved from the
general wreck.
Who does not sympathize in the sentiment so eloquently expressed
by Mr. A. Henry Rhind in his late vigorous appeal for
the preservation of "the muniments of primeval Britain"?—
Experience teaches, that as the world advances in age and intellectual
development, there are few retrospective glances more
productive of regret to cultivated minds, than those which recall
to recollection acts or circumstances that have deprived posterity
of the means of penetrating the mysterious but fascinating
gloom which enshrouds the past."—British Antiquities : their
present Treatment and their real Claims, p. 44, 1855.
* Des Caractères Physiologiques des Races Humaines, W.
F. Edwards, p. 45, 1829. A work of great merit. Prichard,
Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, i. 2 75,. 1854.
f Descriptive Catalogue of the Osteological Series, contained
in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, ii.
785, 1853.
X Questions relatives à l'Ethnologie ancienne de la France,
par A. Maury, p. 5, 1853.
§ Ethnology of the Ancient Irish, by "W. R. Wilde,
M.R.I.A., p. 11, 1844.
B 2