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DESCEIPTIONS OE CRANIA.
interred among the personal possessions of the deceased*,—is of no weight whatever against such
evidences.
/
Ground Plan and Sectimi of Cist A, Lesmurdie.—Length Z feet 2 inches.
In Cist A, " the vertical walls were arranged in a nearly rectangular form, and composed of
five slabs of mica-slate, two having been nsed for one of the longer sides. Its dii'eetion was
neai-ly north-east by south-west, and it mcasiu-ed internally about 3 ft. 2 in. in length, 2 ft. in
breadth, and 1 ft. 8 in. in depth. All the joinings of the various stones were carefully plastered
with loam, evidently as a precaution against the intrusion of rain-water." Cist D. was larger
Ground Plan and Section of Cist D, Lesmurdie.—Length 4 feet 4 inches.
than any of the others, and lay in the same direction as the rest, N.E. by S.W. It measured
4 ft. 4 in. in length, its greatest breadth being 2 ft. 4 in. The floor was unpaved. At the N.E.
end the vase was found, which is less elaborately ornamented than the others. In this cist,
although the vase was present, no traces of bones could be discovered. This occurrence is not
very imcommon in British Barrows. Mi-. Robertson attributes it to the entire destruction of
the osseous remains without leaving an indication of their presence behindf. " In the only two
* Descript. Cat. Antiq. Mus. T. Bateman, p. 4. (29) Piece
of iron ore. (30) Piece of iron pyrites.' p. 6, (52) Piece of
globular ironstone, &c. All found in barrows. And in the
" Vestiges," Mr. Bateman remarks that his discoveries have
proved that iron pyrites was prized by the Britons, and not unfrequently
deposited in their graves, p. 53.
•f See An Archajological Index, by J. Y. Akerman, p. 9,
1847, in which the same opinion is expressed. It seeras difficult
to admit that some pounds of hard mineral matter, triphosphate
of lime, insoluble in water, of which the skeleton is
composed, should entirely disappear when laid in the earth,
after any lapse of time, unless there were some active solvent
16.
at work carrying it off. The facts adduced by Mr. Robertson
contravene the presence of any such solvent, as these cists
were placed in the same sandy soil and exposed to the same
influences, for, we have no doubt, pretty much the same length
of time, and yet the bones were absent in one only (Cist D.).
In all the other three (Cists A. B. and C.) they were present.
In a Derbyshire cist, never before disturbed, in which an iron
dagger and knife with a small heap of pure charcoal were found,
no trace of the skeleton was to be seen ; and yet a small piece of
hone, apparently of a bird, still existed in perfect preservation.
(Bateman's " Vestiges," p. 58.) In this case, at least, the absence
of a skeleton cannot be attributed to dépérissement.
(4)
ANCIENT CALEDONIAN—LESMUEDIE, BANEFSHIRE.
cases in which we found osseous reUcs, the head had, in the one been placed at the north-east,
and in the other apparently at the south-west end of the chamber, so that there seems to have
been no uniformity of practice in this respect."
We may now proceed to the examination of the cranium obtained from Cist B. in a part of
Britain at a considerable distance from the coast, the seat of one of the Caledonian tribes. To one
of the aborigines of these tribes it has clearly belonged, and it is this circumstance which imparts
to it so much value in relation to our inquiry. It is the skull of a man of more than 60 years of
age; and although, from its broken state, we are unable correctly to gauge its capacity, it is seen
to be of rather large size. The bones thi-oughout are thin, slender and Hght. The orbits are
spacious. Every other feature of the face strictly corresponds with those so often described; and
which we might designate ancient Britannic. The forehead is neither wanting in elevation, nor
capacity ; the frontal protuberance being prominent. But the most remarkable distinction is the
great lateral expansion in the post-parietal region. By that particular featm-e not only does
the cranium obtain a peculiar flat, irregular discoidal shape, so as to bring it within the category
of platy-eephaUc crania; but its most singular appearance of great breadth behind is equally
produced*. This gi;eat breadth wiU be best seen in the posterior view among the small outlines at
the head of this description; it however is equally evident in the base view. Such is the degree
of this conformation that we might be led to infer, at first sight, it was a hydrdcephaUc cranium,
an idea promoted by the thinness of its walls. There is also a want of symmetry in the two sides
of this post-parietal swelling. The right side is not equally tumid with the left. Not improbably
this irregularity of form, in which this skull agrees closely with that from the Juniper Green Cist
(Plate 15), may arise from posthumous distortion. With respect to length, although not short,
the skull has a brachy-ceplialic air, arising out of the great post-parietal diameter. The teeth are
small, and have all been present on disinterment, as Mr. Robertson remarks. They are considerably
worn, most on the outer sides of the crowns in the lower jaw, and on the inner sides
in the upper. The palate is short, but its arch is deep. There is a prominent exostosis on the
alveoli of the two posterior upper molars on both sides of the mouth, both within and mthout
the alveoli, but much the most exuberant without on the left side. On this side also the lower
jaw exhibits a small exostosis on its outer surface. The foramen magnum is wide and unusually
circular. The mastoids are small, but the grooves inside their bases, deep. The measurements
of this skull, as far as they are attainable, are as foUow:—
MEASUREMENTS.
Horizontal circumference .
Longitudinal diameter . .
Erontal Region.—Length
Height
Parietal Region.—^Length
Breadth
21-5 inches.
7-3 „
5-1 „
5-0 „
4'9 „
6-2 „
Parietal Region.—Height
Occipital Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Intermastoid arch . . .
Face.—Length . . . .
4-8 inches.
4-6 „
5-0 „
3-8 „
15-5 „
4'4 „
* The fact of the platy-cephalic form of this skull, and its
consequent approximation, in this respect, to the Teutonic
cranial conformation, must not be passed over wholly unnoticed
in connexion with the assertion of Tacitus,—that the red hair
16.
and the large limbs of the Caledonians indicated a German
origin,—^whateverweight maybe attached to the conjecture of
the Roman historian.