DESCRIPTIONS OP CRANIA.
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chambered stone baiTows*. The great cists discovered on Minning Lowe HiU, here figured, are
good examples of the chambers contained in these barrows.
It was in June 1849 that the large barrow caUed "Long Lowe," situated near Wetton, in
the Moorland district of Staffordshire, received that thorough exploration which led to the disinterment
of the skull now lithographed. Several attempts had previously been made to reach
the primary interment, but unsuccessfully. In part, this arose from the former interference of
lead miners, a shaft having been sunk through the elevated portion of the cairn; and partly,
from its great extent. In its original condition it appears to have had a circumference of about
90 yards ; and, at the time of the excavation, was at the highest poiat, raised more than 7 feet
above the surface. For the most part it was composed of flat stones, many of them large, set on
end, and inelining towards each other at the top. The interstices were filled in with earth and
gravel. In the preceding March, an examination of the south-east side resulted in the discovery
of fragments of bones, bm-nt and unbm-nt, and nodules of flint t among charcoal near the surface;
and at the bottom of the excavation, of a wall of large square stones, about 4 ft. long and 18 in.
high. The first objects that presented themselves in the June excavation were two large oblong
stones, lying inclined and parallel to each other. Their sides were contiguous and conformable,
so as to present the appearance of having been conjoined. They were each 7 ft. long by 5 ft.
wide, and had formed one end of the cist, which had been distm'bed by the miners. On one side,
a stone measm-ing 6 ft. 8 in. in length, 4 ft. in width and 7 in. in thickness ; and on the other,
a stone of the same length, only 4 ft. wide, but 11 in. in thickness, constituted the sides of the
sepulchre; which was closed at the other end by another stone 6 ft. long and 5 ft. wide. The
large oblong cist thus constructed was 6 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and between 3 and 4 deep,
The
bottom was regularly paved with stones.
Plan of Stone Cist, Long Lowe Barrow.
Excepting at the end first discovered, where human remains were seen scattered among the
stones, the cist was filled aboye with earth and stones, below with stones only. On the removal
of these, the floor was foimd to be covered from end to end with hiiman osseous remains, in
great confnsion, yet exhibiting the primeval contracted position. Two skulls lay close together,
up to one side of the cist; some of the skeletons crossed each other ; beneath one fine skull in
in the widest part, and about 5 ft. in height. The immense
covering stones are of great weight.
t These masses of flint in the crude state, are just as imported
by the tribes of Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Such
uodules, when found, sometimes retain then* chalky surface.
Like the imperfect jet, of which the necklaces were made, they
were probably derived from Yorkshire, these minerals not occurring
naturally in the district in which they are now met
with as relics, and were very likely objects of barter with the
Brigantian tribes.
* Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, p. 39, Minn in g
Lowe ; p. 46, Stoney Lowe; p. 47, Bole Hi l l ; p. 91, Cairn on
Five "Wells Hill. Mr. Batemau applies the term " chambered
barrow" where the cist is of more than ordinary size, or where
more than one such structure is found in the same tumulus.
The preceding Plan of capacious cists found on Minning Lowe
Hill in July, 1843, refers to what is named a "gal lery" at
p. 40 of the " Vestiges." They have since been cleared
out, without the discovery of any deposit whatever. The more
perfect cist is nearly C ft. in length, about the same in width
33.
ANCIENT BRITISH—LONG LOWE BARKOW, STAFEORDSIIIIIE.
the middle lay the leg-bones of one skeleton and the arm-bones of another. One skeleton was
met with at a rather higher elevation, amongst the stones which filled up the cist. Three very
neatly made arrow-heads, and many other pieces of calcined flint, were found on the floor; as
well as fragments of bone belonging to deer, the ox, the hog, and the dog. The human remains,
as nearly as could be ascertained, were referable to thirteen different persons, of both sexes, and
of periods of life extending from infancy to old age.
The instruments obtained fi-om an examination of Long Lowe in 1848 were of flint, four iu
number, and have the calcined appearance. One, a tliin flake, only an inch and a half long, has
a very finely serrated edge, and forms an implement between a saw and a knife. Two others are
thin blunt pieces, stiU shorter. And the fourth is a square pile or arrow-point, an inch and a
quarter long. The objects of art met with in the 1849 excavation belong to the same series, but
are more finished. Two weU-formed flint arrow-points; two smaU flint instruments with
rounded extremities; two smaU slender flalces, one of which is finely serrated on both sides—all
the flints are calcinated; a portion of a bone-pin; and two objects, apparently tines of the antler
of a stag, each about an inch and a half in length.
One of the skeletons derived from the centre of this capacious cist owned the cranium we
have been permitted to delineate, now in the rich Celtic Museum of Mr. Bateman, at Lomberdale
House, near Toulgrave. It is a remarkably regular, narrow and long skull, of good shape,
medium thickness, and presenting few of the harsh peculiarities of the ancient British race ; on
the contrary, there is about it an aii' of slenderness and refinement. In some features it assimilates
to the modern English cranium, although decidedly narrower, whflst its genuine and remote
antiquity is determined by unquestionable evidence. It belongs in an eminent degree to the
class of dolicho-cephaUc skulls; and is the cranium of a man of about 40 years of age.
The face is unusuaUy long and slender; forehead narrow, but well elevated at the sides of
the glabeUa in the coronal region; facial angle open; supra-nasal boss marked, but not prominent
; nose large, and probably aquiline; nostrns narrow; lower jaw deep, which adds to the
length of the face, tip of the chin everted, ramus ascending at nearly a right angle; all the teeth,
which are smaU, much worn down, those of the uppei- jaw most on the inside, and those of the
lower most on the outside, in the form and manner of miU-stones. The detrition of the upper
incisors has proceeded to the base of their crowns. Arch of the palate narrow, but elevated;
orbits square, and inelmed downwards and outwai-ds; cheek depressions marked; malar bones
directed outwards in an unusual degree; zygomatic arches moderate in size; semicircular line
of the temporal surface rises high and extends backwards to the border of the lambdoidal
sutm-e. The side view shows a considerable elevation proceeding from the coronal region along
the sagittal suture; a large surface, from the flatness of the skull; and a regular pleasing outline.
The bosses of the parietals are not prominent, yet the area of these bones is extensive. The
upper portion of the occipital projects, and terminates below in a distinct ridge and protuberance.
The skuU is unusuaUy smooth and equable among the British series, and exliibits a
long narrow oval when viewed verticaUy, slightly depressed in the left temporal region. Its
widest part is just above the mastoids, so that the occipital development is not deficient, and
this region is more capacious than any other. The mastoid process on the right side is much
larger than that on the left, but with respect to the digastric groove, the left exceeds the right in
depth. The styloid processes are long.
Of two other skidls derived from this megalithie cist, one is that of a woman, of probably 50
years of age (B in the Table of Measurements); the other that of a giri of not more than 7 years
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