buried twelve horses, six dogs and a peacock. An interesting example of the great timber-chambered barrow is that at Jelling in Jutland, known as the barrow of Thyre Danebod, queen of King Gorm the Old, who died about the middle of the 10th century. It is a mound about 200 ft. in diameter, and over 50 ft. in height, containing a chamber 23 ft. long, 8 ft. wide and 5 ft. high, formed of massive slabs of oak. Though it had been entered and plundered in the middle ages, a few relics were found when it was reopened, among which were a silver cup, ornamented with the interlacing work characteristic of the time and some personal ornaments. It is highly illustrative of the tenacity with which the ancient sepulchral usages were retained even after the introduction of Christianity that King Harold, son and successor of Gorm the Old, who is said to have christianized all Denmark and Norway, followed the pagan custom of erecting a chambered tumulus over the remains of his father, on the summit of which was placed a rude pillar-stone, bearing on one side the memorial inscription in runes, and on the other a representation of the Saviour of mankind distinguished by the crossed nimbus surrounding the head. The so-called Kings’ Hows at Upsala in Sweden rival those of Jelling in size and height. In the chamber of one, opened in 1829, there was found an urn full of calcined bones; and along with it were ornaments of gold showing the characteristic workmanship of the 5th and 6th centuries of the Christian era. Along with the calcined human bones were bones of animals, among which those of the horse and the dog were distinguished.
Comparing the results of the researches in European barrows with such notices of barrow-burial as may be gleaned from early writings, we find them mutually illustrative.
The Homeric account of the building of the barrow of Hector (Il. xxiv.) brings vividly before us the scene so often suggested by the examination of the tumuli of prehistoric times. During nine days wood was collected and brought, in carts drawn by oxen, to the site of the funeral pyre. Then the pyre was built and the body laid upon it. After burning for twenty-four hours the smouldering embers were extinguished with libations of wine. The white and calcined bones were then picked out of the ashes by the friends and placed in a metallic urn, which was deposited in a hollow grave or cist and covered over with large well-fitting stones. Finally, a barrow of great magnitude was heaped over the remains and the funeral feast was celebrated. The obsequies of Achilles, as described in the Odyssey, were also celebrated with details which are strikingly similar to those observed in tumuli both of the Bronze and Iron Ages. The body was brought to the pile in an embroidered robe and jars of unguents and honey were placed beside it. Sheep and oxen were slaughtered at the pile. The incinerated bones were collected from the ashes and placed in a golden urn along with those of Patroclus, Achilles’s dearest friend. Over the remains a great and shapely mound was raised on the high headland, so that it might be seen from afar by future generations of men.
Herodotus, describing the funeral customs of the Scythians, states that, on the death of a chief, the body was placed upon a couch in a chamber sunk in the earth and covered with timber, in which were deposited all things needful for the comfort of the deceased in the other world. One of his wives was strangled and laid beside him, his cup-bearer and other attendants, his charioteer and his horses were killed and placed in the tomb, which was then filled up with earth and an enormous mound raised high over all. The barrows which cover the plains of ancient Scythia attest the truth of this description. A Siberian barrow, described by Demidov, contained three contiguous chambers of unhewn stone. In the central chamber lay the skeleton of the ancient chief, with his sword, his spear, his bow and a quiver full of arrows. The skeleton reclined upon a sheet of pure gold, extending the whole length of the body, which had been wrapped in a mantle broidered with gold and studded with precious stones. Over it was extended another sheet of pure gold. In a smaller chamber at the chief’s head lay the skeleton of a female, richly attired, extended upon a sheet of pure gold and similarly covered with a sheet of the same metal. A golden chain adorned her neck and her arms were encircled with bracelets of pure gold. In a third chamber, at the chief’s feet, lay the skeleton of his favourite horse with saddle, bridle and stirrups.
So curiously alike in their general features were the sepulchral usages connected with barrow-burial over the whole of Europe, that we find the Anglo-Saxon Saga of Beowulf describing the chambered tumulus with its gigantic masonry “held fast on props, with vaults of stone,” and the passage under the mound haunted by a dragon, the guardian of the treasures of heathen gold which it contained. Beowulf’s own burial is minutely described in terms which have a strong resemblance to the parallel passages in the Iliad and Odyssey. There is first the preparation of the pile, which is hung round with helmets, shields and coats of mail. Then the corpse is brought and laid in the midst; the pile is kindled and the roaring flame rises, mingled with weeping, till all is consumed. Then, for ten long days, the warriors labour at the rearing of his mighty mound on the headland, high and broad, to be seen afar by the passers-by on land and sea.
The pyramids of Egypt, the mausolea of the Lydian kings, the circular, chambered sepulchres of Mycenae, and the Etruscan tombs at Caere and Volci, are lineally descended from the chambered barrows of prehistoric times, modified in construction according to the advancement of architectural art at the period of their erection. There is no country in Europe destitute of more or less abundant proofs of the almost universal prevalence of barrow-burial in early times. It can also be traced on both sides of the basin of the Mediterranean, and from Asia Minor across the continent to India, China and Japan.
In the new world as well as in the old, similar customs prevailed from a very remote period. In the great plains of North America the dead were buried in barrows of enormous magnitude, which occasionally present a remarkable similarity to the barrows of Great Britain. In these mounds cremation appears more frequently than inhumation; and both are accompanied by implements, weapons and ornaments of stone and bone. The pottery accompanying the remains is often elaborately ornamented, and the mound builders were evidently possessed of a higher development of taste and skill than is evinced by any of the modern aboriginal races, by whom the mounds and their contents are regarded as utterly mysterious.
It is not to be wondered at that customs so widely spread and so deeply rooted as those connected with barrow-burial should have been difficult to eradicate. In fact, compliance with the Christian practice of inhumation in the cemeteries sanctioned by the church, was only enforced in Europe by capitularies denouncing the punishment of death on those who persisted in burying their dead after the pagan fashion or in the pagan mounds. Yet even in the middle ages kings of Christian countries were buried with their swords and spears, and queens with their spindles and ornaments; the bishop was laid in his grave with his crozier and comb; the priest with his chalice and vestments; and clay vessels filled with charcoal (answering to the urns of heathen times) are found in the churches of France and Denmark.
Authorities—Canon W. Greenwell, British Barrows (London, 1877); Dr J. Thurnam, “On Ancient British Barrows,” in Archaeologia, vols. 42, 43 (1869); J. R. Mortimer, Forty Years’ Researches in Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire (London, 1905); J. Anderson, Scotland in Pagan Times (Edinburgh, 1886); Dr T. H. Bryce, “Records of Explorations among the Cairns of Arran and Bute,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vols. 36, 37, 38 (1901–1903); W. C. Borlase, The Dolmens of Ireland (London, 1897); Dictionnaire archéologique de la Gaule (Paris, 1875); A. P. Madsen, Gravhoie og Gravfund fra Stenalderen i Danmark (Copenhagen, 1900); S. Müller, Nordische Altertumskunde aus Dänemark und Schleswig (Strassburg, 1897); O. Montelius, The Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times (London, 1888), and Der Orient und Europa (Stockholm, 1899); E. Cartailhac, Les Âges préhistoriques de l’Espagne et du Portugal (Paris, 1886); W. Gowland, “The Dolmens and Burial Mounds in Japan,” in Archaeologia, vol. 55 (1897); C. Thomas, “Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology” (Twelfth Annual Report for 1890–1891, Washington, 1894.) (J. An.)
BARROWE, HENRY (? 1550–1593), English Puritan and Separatist, was born about 1550, at Shipdam, Norfolk, of a family related by marriage to the lord keeper Bacon, and
