DESCEIPTIONS OP CRANIA.
formed the grave, those at thq sides measuring 3 ft. 8 in. in length, and those at the ends
2 ft. 4i in. and 2 ft. respectively. " The depth of the chamber was 2 feet, and its floor was neatlypaved
with small flattish water-worn stones, such as are found along the mai-gin of the adjoining
river Deveron. From the careful way in which the variously-shaped pieces of the pavement had
been adapted to each other, and imbedded in the same kind of loam as was used for closing the
crevices of the cist, it became evident that considerable pains had been bestowed on the execution
of this part of the work*."
o
Grmnid Plan and Section of Cist B, Lesmurdie.—Length 3 feet 8 inches,
"About three-fourths of the cavity was occupied by a mass of earth and sand, which
reached the roof on the south-eastern side, and slopiag downwards to the opposite one, left the
rim of an urn exposed to view at the northern angle of the chamber. The skull was found at
the N.N.E. end of the chamber, lying on its left side (into which position it must have fallen
when its ordinary attachments to the rest of the skeleton gave way), and with the lower jaw stni
From Cist D, 7 | inches high,
diameter at top GJ inches.
From Cist A, of inches hi^h,
diameter at top inches.
From Cist B, inches high,
diameter at top inches.
Vases from Stone Cists at Lesmurdie, Banffshire-\.
in its place. It at first appeared to be in a perfect state of preservation, but on raising it a
softened portion of the lower side remained behind. The upper side of the skull where the earth
only came in contact with one side of the bone (and where, therefore, the moisture was less),
was but little changed from its natural condition. The teeth, incisors as weU as molars, were
much worn, but all were sound; and although some of them now happen to be missing, the
* Such sepulchral cists as that here described have been
met with iu great numbers in different parts of Scotland.
See an account of one very similar to this in Wilson's
"Archreology of Scotland," p. 179. In fact short cists,
with or without superincumbent cairns or barrows, appear
to prevail in North Britain; while barrows, with or without
cists, are most frequent in the southern districts of the
island.
16.
t Dr. J. A. Smith has politely sent us some corrections of
the drawings of the vases in this wood-cut. He says, in that
from Cist B. the mouth is not wide enough, the circumference
at the top and the middle bemg nearly the same, the top perhaps
a little less. And in place of the dotted line above the
cross-hatched work at the bottom of the vase, there should be
a zigzag. All these indented lines have been produced by impressing
a twisted cord upon the soft clay.
(i)
ANCIENT CALEDONIAN—LESMURDIE, BANEESHIRE.
whole were in then- sockets when disinterred. A tibia and part, of a humerus, both of the right
side, were the only other bones that were found in a state for removal, and they are of Uttle
interest, further than showing, contrary to the vulgar opinion, that the stature of these ancient
inhabitants of Scotland did not surpass that of their modern representatives."
The urn on the right of the group of three here represented was found in Cist B. It stood
upright on the right-hand side of the skeleton, and, like those in the other cists, contained
notliing but a portion of the same micaceous sand which occupied the lower parts of the chambers.
" There was not the slightest discoloration of the sand at the bottom of the vessels, and this
would certainly not have happened, had they been deposited with any solid provisions in them.
Even supposing that mice or other vermin had devoured the food, there would still have been
evidence of the fact in the stains resulting from the excrements, which such creatures invariably
leave behind them; and, as nothing of the kind existed, it may be concluded, either that the
urns had been empty when interred, which is very unlikely, or that they had contained water or
other beverage for the use of the departed." Without altogether agreeing in the force of Mr.
Robertson's reasoning in this passage, for he seems here to forget the vast lapse of time and its
great effects in dissipating animal remains, (which in another place he even regards as equal to
the total dissipation of a human body with aU its bones so as to leave no trace behind,) we must
admit his conclusion to be very probable. The vases are clearly not cineraiy urns, but of the
class of " drinking-cups."
There were further discovered " in a little mass of sand that had been left near the spot on
which the urn stood, three chips of flint, and some minute fragments of a dark brown oxide of
iron, the latter exhibiting a pecuUar fibrous structure on their surfaces. The flints were
cemented together by a ferruginous concretion of sand, the greater part of which was thoughtlessly
destroyed in attempting to free the stones from the extraneous matter." The two larger
of these irregular flint flakes are each a little more than two inches in length, and about an inch
broad in the widest part; the smaller is not above one-third the size. The former may probably
have been very rude spear-heads, and the latter an arrow-head. Without question, although
so rude, they were instruments of value in actual life, or they would not have been deposited
under the idea of their being of utility in a future life. The particles of iron are too small and too
insignificant to deserve much notice, although they misled Mr. Robertson in the appropriation
of the cists. The largest of those preserved in the Museum, which however is merely ferruginous
cement, is not more than a third of an inch long, and less in breadth. Mr. Robertson
considered that the flints had originally been accompanied with a steel, indicated by this
ferruginous matter; and that the interments belonged not to the primeval, but to the " ironperiod,"
or Teutonic times. This peculiar mode of interment, within rude cists of merely
suflicient length to contain the remains, when the limbs are flexed, and yet not of depth enough
to allow of the body being placed on the haunches, or in the crouching position, prevailed
extensively in primeval times among the British tribes from one end of the island to the other, and
even in the surrounding islets. Therefore the construction of these short stone cists, the contracted
position of the skeletons, the clearly marked primitive character of the pottery, ornamented by
, means of a twisted thong or cord, and the cranium itself, are all decisive evidences of aboriginal
people, and of primeval times; independently of the entire absence of all those accompaniments
so constantly associated with interments of a later " iron age." The occurrence of a fragment of
iron, or much more probably u-on ore, whether accidental or not,—for occasionally objects of the
same Idnd, such as pebbles and pieces of ore, are met with in Barrows apparently purposely
16. (3)