, ! I
t !• !il
r 11. 4
l i i / n ' i S
J !
I, I
' tarn a
DESCRIPTIONS OE CRANIA.
their Vulcan, or Weland *. The ground here slopes away towards Ashbury and Ashdown—the
^cesdtm, or Mom Fraxini of the Chronicles—where, in 871, Alfred obtained his first great
victoryt. The identification of this site has induced speculative antiquaries to attribute the
ancient remains in this locality to the Anglo-Saxon period. With such writers, Weland's
Smithy is the tomb of the Danish King Bagsec, and the White Horse itself a trophy of Alfred's
victory i. The former is unequivocally Ancient British; and that the Wliite Horse is the same
appears probable from the resemblance of its disjointed limbs and singular head to the figures
of horses on many rude coins of the Britons §.
Ufiington Castle, formed no doubt by the Britons, seems to have been appropriated by the
Romans, as so many British entrenchments were. Erom its commanding situation it would be
valuable in the subjugation of this part of the island, and afterwards as a snmmev station for
troops. It is situated midway between the Roman stations of CaUeva and Corinium, and about
five miles to the west of the great Roman road between those towns. The nearest stations in
the Itinerary are Spinse and Cunetio, from each of which it is distant about fifteen miles ¡|.
Ground-plan ofTmmilar Cemetery on White Horse Hill, Berks.—Scale about 12| feet to an inch.
The tumulus from which om- skull was derived is situated on the sloping slide of the hill,
a Little to the east of the camp, and just above the White Horse. It is an oblong mound rising
a foot or two above the turf, and, but for the slight ditch surrounding it, would pass
unobserved. It is about 80 feet in length and 40 in breadth, being distinguished from the
ancient British long barrows by its sKght elevation and equal width at both ends. It was
* Charter of Eaclred, a.d. 955. Cod. Dipl. No. 1172,
vol. vi. p. 332. T. Wright, F.S.A., Archieologia, vol. xxxii.
p. 315. Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. vol. xvi. p. 50.
t A. S. Chron., Asser, a . d . 871. The identification of this
battle-site by Wise is well supported by W. N. Clarke, D.C.L.,
Arch. Journ. vol. is. p. 320.
J Aubrey (Mon. Brit.) assigned Weland's Smithy and the
White Horse to the Saxons of the fifth century, under Hengist.
Wise sought to strengthen his argument for Ashdown being
the rEscesdun of the 0th century by assigning the neighbouring
antiquities to the Danes and Saxons. His view as to the
.51.
White Horse is very generally adopted, and has acquired
fresh currency from the popular work, "The Scouring of the
White Horse," 1859.
§ As pointed out by Lysons ("Berkshire," 1813, p. 215),
by the judicious antiquary'Mr. J . Y. Akerman (Arch. vol. xxxi.
p. 297 [whence our concluding vignette is taken], comp.p. 291),
and by Asplin in his scurrilous animadversions on Wise ( " Impertinence,
&c., of Modern Antiquaries," 1739, p. 22).
II 13th and 14th Itineraries of Autonine. It is about seven
miles to the east of Nyth, where there appears to have been a
station. Hoare, " Roman Wilts," vol. ii. pp. 92, 9G.
(2)
ANCIENT ROMAN-WHITE HORSE HILL, BERKS.
excavated in 1857, by the late E. Martin Atkins, Esq., E.S.A., of Kingston Lisle, to whom the
writer owes the advantage of having been present*. A lai-ge niunber of interments of the entire
body, with a few after cremation, were found. The graves were much more numerous on the
south and west sides than on the north and east, where they were almost entirely absent. They
were clearly of the Roman period, though an early British interment was found near the centre
of the mound, viz., a large ui-n of coarse pottery with two handle-Hke bosses, filled with burnt
bones, and protected by a cii-cular dry walling, rudely arched over with Sarsen stones. Over this
a grave had been dug, as shown by a skeleton (No. 40), part of which had become mixed with
the stones below. About nine urns were uncovered in the south-east quarter of the tumulus, of
coarse Roman pottery, all broken f. With the fragments and the burnt bones were some pieces
of u'on and bronze hair-pins, and a rude bronze needle. Eorty-six skeletons were uncovered,
occupymg forty-two graves, three having two or three skeletons each. The depth of the -raves
varied fi-om nine inches to three feet and upwards. With four exceptions, they ranged east and
west, but there was no such rule observed in the disposition of the bodies. Disregai-ding slighter
deviations, twenty-seven of the forty-six skeletons had the head turned to the west, and nineteen
to the east. There was much variety in the disposition of the body and limbs; and in five
cases (Nos. 7, 15, 18, 29, 38) the remains were found with the face downwards. The skeletons
were those of both sexes and aU ages. Of thii-ty-five adults and young persons, nineteen
appeared to be male and sixteen female. Eleven were those of chUdi-en under ten years The
age varied from 1 or 2 years to 70 and upwards. Of the thii-ty-five in whom this could be estimated,
four males and six females were from 12 or 15 to 30 yeai-s ; six males and five females from
30 to 50; and nine males and five females from 50 to 70 years and upwards. The skeletons
were of medium statui-e, there being one only (No. 27), which seems to have exceeded 5 feet 9
inches. The table in the note J shows the length of the femur and tibia in fifteen males and
eleven females, with the approximate statiu-e as computed therefrom.
* The researches of Mr. Martin Atkins in this district were
brought to a close by his premature death. May 1859. His discovery
of the remains of strong palisading in the chalk vallum
of Uffington Castle has not yet been published. Our groundplan
of the tumulus has been reduced from a sketch by Mr.
Atkins, who also supphed the writer with a register of the
contents of each grave. In the plan, the skeletons 1, 2, 3 are
shown with the heads in the reverse of the actual position.
t On the plan, these urns are indicated but not numbered.
t The computed stature is obtained bymultiplying the united
length of the femur and tibia by 2, and adding one inch, which
may be taken to represent the plantar integument and the
scalp; (see Description of Skull from Roundway, Plate 42, p. 3,
note t).
.51.
No. of SUeletons. Length in Inches.
Computed
Male. [ Female. M. & F . Stature.
Femur. Tibia.
e. to.
1 1 15—16 11—12 4 7
2 2 15—IG 12—13 4 9
1 1 15—16 13—14 4 11
3 3 16—17 13—14 5 1
2 2 4 17—18 13—14 5 3
3 2 5 17—18 14—15 5 5
1 1 17—18 15—16 1
3 3 5 7
18—19 14—15/
4 4 18—19 15—161 .)1 5 Q 1 y
19—20 14—15/
1 1 19—20 15—16 5 11
15 1 1. 25
(a)
. i !
1
1
I
„ t
' X
1 i
i '• . >ri
It
t'i
i i
( ••
I if .
t m
I i
f '