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iils.
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DESCRIPTIONS OF CRANIA.
tory of the Belgse, wMch, as we leamfrom Ptolemy, must have extended from the Itchin and the
Great Port (Portsmouth) to the estuary of the SeTern, and included, as he tells us, among its
towns, Venta Belgarum, the Hot Springs, and IschaKs—Winchester, Bath, and Ilchester.
On Eoundway Down are several barrows, two of which were opened, in 1805, by Mr. W.
Cunnington, for Sii- E. C. Hoare, by whom they are described *. After the lapse of half a
centmy, most of the other barrows on this spot were carefully examined by Mr. W. Cunnington,
P.G.S., the grandson of the former explorer, from whose accoimt t the following description, as
well as that of the skull flgiu-ed in Plate 42, is in part derived.
Map of Roundway and Morgan's Hills, showing the Ban-ows, Wansdyhe, and the Roman Road.—Corrected from the
Ordnance Map.
Of the nine barrows scattered over the down, three (No. 2, 3, and 4) contained entire
skeletons, and thi-ee (No. 1, 6, and 7) interments after cremation : these were doubtless aU of
the British period. In four of the number, implements of bronze, flint, and bone, of much
interest, were met with, and are preserved in the Museum of the Wiltshire Archaiological
Society. Two of the tumuli, containing interments after cremation, were twin barrows (No. 6
and 7), surrounded by a ditch : the interval between the two having been filled up, caused them
to resemble the form of a long barrow, for which they had been mistaken. One mound (No. 5)
was unproductive, having been previously opened; but no account of its examination is on
record. Of the two tumuli on the western side of the hiU, one at its highest point (No. 8),
opened in 1840, proved of the Anglo-Saxon period, and contained a skeleton interred in a cist
of wood bound with iron, accompanied by rich ornaments of garnets and vitrified paste set in
gold, and with a situla of wood mounted in brass at the feet The other barrow (No. 9), half
a mile to the north, has not yet been examined.
The barrows No. 3 and No. 4 of the Map are those opened in 1805, and described in
the second volume of the " Ancient Wiltshire." No. 4 may be first referred to. Sir Richard
Hoare says, " we opened two barrows on this hiU; the first was a small circular tumtdus on the
right hand as you reach the summit from Devizes." It appears that the main course of the track
has been diverted from the left to the right hand of the barrow since this was written; the
* Ancient Wilts, vol. ii. p. 98.
f Wilts Archffiological and Natural History Magazine, vol.
iii. p. 185; vi. p. 159.
43.
i For representations and descriptions of these objects, see
Salisbury Vol. Arch. Inst., p. 111, pi. 3C. Akcrmaa, " Pagan
Saxondom," p. 1, pi. 1. Proc. Soc. Ant., vol. i. p. 12.
(2)
T V
ANCIENT BRITISH-ROUNDWAY HILL, NORTH WILTS
^^^ r ^ - - - - - ^ ^^ - be .und
tion, from the great victory of that Î L ^e t ""
inches high : its diameter is about 28 îeeT SiÎ R Ï T " .
and a half, it produced a s k e l e t o r i l f ^ ^«et
. of arms or t r l k e t ^ ^S X ^^ ^^^ accompaniments
Cunnington, Jun., when the remainstf ; ^^^
with them a halfpenny deposited when it was " ^
longer axis six feet eight inches in len^^th Snr.» 7 x '^^pe, the
were found in it. The skull was v - T "" drinking-cup
sl^owthat it was that o f ^ ^ ^ ^ srel^^^^^^^^^^^ — ^o
thigh-bone (which is remarkably l l e n d ï i r p r l p o r t Î 7 t 1 f ^^^
a stature of about 5 feet 11 inches to its length), IQi inches, would indicate
tbat 3 r i C i : " ^^ -- - - ^^
lies further to the east and Le" e t t e s " The second barrow
two feet and a l^alf in elevatioT I t ^ f ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^rm, and about
from east to west, and with it T ; ^ ^ ^ skeleton lyin oehildi
en's marbles c u T ^ t o h 1 I l L ? : ^ «i - ' i ^ :
wood Which was probably oncral^^toTh: !^^^^^^^^^
opened by Mr. W. Cunnington, who found a brass med7„ -H t '
rative Of Ms grandfather's exploration, of : h Ï r t r - ft
O P E S E D BY
I W»CnNNIJiGl02{|
iron ringfound by his able explort Tt , « , «^'^^'^ribed the
iron (of the Br i t L period) ^ d in
1 8 0 5
opened by Sir Richar-d H o i It ; T V ^
ever its use, indicates a somewhat late thou<.h nrl ^ ' ^^^
l^emispherical pieces of ivory, we i n ^ t ^ t i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^y
game resembling our draughts or back<.amC^ Z ! ^
"Dictionary of Greek and Roman A ^ " i- the
two sets of latrunouH or draughtsmen fif^ri
thirty pieces found in the barrow were p roZf v I t ' T . T ^^^teen of the
ingreatmeasu.-e,be obliterated by the W c lOïï'^^^,^^
with them may have been the r emL s of th^bo^Ton ^ t t "
games of chance have already been pointed n.f ' ™ the game was played. Traces of
1806, the late Rev. Edward i u ^ e 7 " Wiltshire. In
bone. Which . . e engraved fT e ^ . - I ^ t ^ r ; " ^ " ^
* B. G., lib. .. e. 12 Wiltshu-e," and are thus described
jectured to be for a game resembling draughts. T e l l ; , i
passed ^ o u g h t h e fire, and their original nLb^^^^^^^^^^^
* B. G., lib. T. c. 12.
t M^-"ates,P.H.S.,theauthorofthisarticIe, has obliged
the wruer by commuuieating to hi,u the authorities he has colected,
wh,ch show that thirty pieces ware used from the earhct
.mes, as ,s stUl done, in playing the games of tric-trac and
backgammon. In a barrow in Derbyshire, supposed to be
^t i
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