pulchral deposit. Occasionally there are more
than one of these minute mounds, which often escape notice by reason
of their insignificance.

It is very significant that the Disc Barrow is more plentiful around
Stonehenge than in any other part of Wiltshire. Elsewhere they are
comparatively rare.

In the "Round" Barrows it is not uncommon to find that the body has
been cremated before interment. In the Bowl and Bell types, about
three out of every four bodies have been so disposed of. In Dorset the
relative interments, by cremation or otherwise, is four out of five,
while in Cornwall cremation is almost universal.

Almost without exception, however, the Disc Barrows contain only
cremated remains. The existing impression is that these three forms of
Round Barrow were in use at one and the same time, but that the Bowl
Barrow was the earliest, followed by the Bell, and that the Disc is
the latest form of all. From construction, if for no other reason,
this hypothesis seems perfectly tenable.

The Barrows on the Plain were built of the materials most easily
accessible, mould, chalk, and flints, with occasional fragments of
Sarsen. As has already been recorded, fragments of Foreign Stone from
Stonehenge have been found in one of those forming the group which lay
immediately south-west of the circle, but now destroyed by
cultivation. The method of procedure was simple. A grave would in many
cases be dug sufficiently long to contain the body if buried by
inhumation in a crouching position. This grave would vary in depth
from a few inches to six feet. Sometimes blocks of Sarsen would be
built over the body to protect it. The crouching posture is specially
noteworthy. The knees are drawn up to the trunk and the legs bent on
the thighs, while the arms are closed towards the chest, and the hands
over the face. There has been some speculation as to the significance
of this particular attitude. Some have seen in it that of an unborn
infant, others the natural position in death, others again have
maintained it was the primaeval posture of sleep. It seems quite
possible, however, that the position may be due to mere utilitarian
motives as being more compact for the purpose of burial. The lie of
the inhumed skeleton is usually with the head to the north; exceptions
show that the east, south-east, and south-west, have sometimes been
selected, but never due south. Interments with the head to the west,
as in Christian burial, are very