not have possessed cither energy or ability to manufacture implements which often display both taste and skill. The native character of these objects was, moreover, rendered probable by the discovery at Bovey Tracey of moulds of stone, in which it was intended that they should be cast;[1] the occurrence of these pieces of unwrought metal to which I have referred, affords an additional link in the evidence which tends to prove that the casting was executed on the spot.
We proceeded to a third barrow, situate at a distance of about half a mile to the south of the two that I have described, and commanding an extensive view both by land and sea. We found that it consisted of two distinct barrows of different structure; or, to speak more accurately, a later barrow of earth had been raised upon the surface of the original mound, which proved to be a large cairn, formed entirely of loose stones aggregated into a heap. Excavating as near the centre of the upper or earthy barrow as possible, we found that the mound was composed of soil firmly compacted, and interspersed here and there with fragments of charcoal. We failed, however, in our hasty excavation, to discover an interment; and time precluded our disturbing the cairn beneath.
During the year 1869, the members of the Exeter Naturalists' Club visited Broad Down, by invitation of Sir Edmund S. Prideaux, Bart., when three barrows were opened in their presence. The first occupied the eastern extremity of the down. It was composed of peat intermingled with large rough stones and flints; and, with an elevation of three feet, it covered an area of about twenty-five feet in diameter. We directed a trench to be cut from the south side towards the centre; we then enlarged our excavations by removing all the large stones, which appeared to be arranged in a circle, but the labour was devoid of any practical result. We then inspected a series of seven barrows arranged in a line running north and south, and separated one from the other by an interval of about twenty yards. Our excavations were commenced on the eastern side of the fourth member of the group (reckoning from the south), and had not extended more than a few feet when an abundant deposit of charcoal testified to the presence of the funeral pyre; par-
- ↑ Arch. Journ. vol. xxiv. p. 112.
