i ! i-:
DESCRIPTIONS OP CRANIA.
a tore of bronze (or, as it is called, brass) siu-rounded the neck*. In one barrow a beautiful
miniature bronze " celt," an inch only ia length, doubtless a toy or female ornament, was
discovered; a small Hght blue glass bead was attached to it by a pin (fig. 6). Of the contents
of three only of the barrows, opened at this period, has an exact record been jDreserved, but these
are of great interest and deserve to be fully described+.
The fii'st was the " Barrow of a Charioteer," situated on the Hessleskew ground, not more
than two feet in height. In it was the skeleton of a warrior, resting on his shield, the boss of
which, of bronze, measured four and a half inches in diameter, and had a portion of the wood of
the shield adhering to it (fig. 7); the corroded rim of iron measured an inch in width. On each
side of the skeleton was an iron bridle bit, and the wheel of a chariot, with rings also of iron,
which had belonged to the chariot or its trappings. The diameter of the wheel was two feet eight
inches ; that of the iron rim of the nave about five inches. The nails used as rivets were well
preserved, and traces of oak were foimd attached to the tire. The wheels appear each to have
been furnished with as many as sixteen spokes, with spaces of about six inches between them.
Two wild boars' tusks lay on the skeleton: one of them had been curiously polished and carved,
having a diamond pattern engraved on its thick end, to the length of three-quarters of an inch,
and was perforated by a square hole J. With it was a singular thia bronze case, which was
perforated to correspond (figs. 8, 9). At the bottom of this object is a rim and the marks of
rivets, by which it had clearly been attached to something else,—perhaps to a staff. No light
has liitherto been thrown on the probable use of this curious object.
A second barrow, in the Arras ground, on the very edge of the road, disclosed remains so
rare and valuable, that the designation of the " King's Barrow " given it when explored, seems
almost warranted. In a cist forming a circle of eleven or twelve feet, excavated to the depth of
about a foot and a half in the chalk, the skeleton of an old man, likewise a charioteer, presented
itself, " sm-rounded by what in life formed the sources of his pride and delight, and no inconsiderable
part of his possessions." The skeleton was laid on the back, with the head to the
north, the arms crossed on the breast, and the leg and thigh-bones likewise crossed. Very near
the head were the skulls of two vrild boars. Inclining from the skeleton on each side, had
been a wheel, of which only the iron tire and bronze ornaments of the nave, with small
fragments of the original oak still adhering to them, remained. The diameter of these wheels
was two feet eleven inches ; the width of the iron tire about one inch and five-eighths. The rim
of the nave, of iron plated Tvdth " copper," or more probably bronze, was nearly sis inches in
diameter. Under and adjoining to each wheel, were the remains of the skeletons of two small
* Olirer, " History of Beverley," 1829, p. 4. plate. MS.
letter from Thomas Hull, M.D., in the records of the Yorkshire
Philosophical Society, dated BeTerley, October 2, 1827.
t See "Account of the opening of some Barrows on the
Wolds of Yorkshire," by the Rev. E. W. Stillingfleet, B.D.,
in Proceedings of the Archceological Institute at York, in 184C,
p. 26. It is to the friendly assistance of Mr. Stillingfleet that
we are indebted for the opportunity of figuring, from photographs,
the curious objects found in these barrows.
t Boars' tusks, perforated for suspension, as trophies or
amulets, have occasionally been found with British remains, as
in a barrow at Upton Lovell in Wiltshire, opened by Mr. Cunnmgton
in 1801 (see "Ancient Wilts," vol. i. p. 75. plate 7 ;
"Archffiologia," vol. xv. p. 124. plate 2). Mr. Eolfe has a spe-
6, 7.
cimen mounted with metal, quite perfect, found at Richborongh
(Journal of British Archieological Association, vol. iii. p. 98 ;
C. R. Smith, "Richborongh," &c., 1850, p. 110). An object
of similar form, with the ornamented and perforated tusk from
Hessleskew, made of deer's horn, and decorated at the narrow
end with the circle and dot ornament, was found in one of the
hut-circles in the British stronghold on Worle Hill, Somerset;
this, however, seems to have been hoUow, and intended for the
mouth-piece of some instrument (Proceedings of the Somerset
Archasological and Natural History Society for 1852, p. 9,
and plate). We have followed Mr. Stillingfleet, in describing
the object mentioned in the text, as foi-med of the tusk of a
hoar : its form and curvature would rather lead us to the conclusion
of its being made from the horn of a deer.