great number of graves, arranged in four or five tiers, one above another, at intervals of about three or four feet. These graves are of the ordinary length of a human body, measuring from six to seven feet in length, their height being about two feet; they are generally formed with about twelve stones, rough from the quarry of the slaty schist of the district; three stones compose either side of the grave, with three at the bottom, and three placed as the top or covering. The bodies were laid, invariably, with the feet converging towards the centre of the mound, the head being towards the outer side: the arms were extended by the side of the corpse: and a dark-coloured deposit in the bed of sand whereon the skeletons lie, still shews traces of the decomposition of the body. When first opened, these graves are found to contain a layer about six inches in depth, of sand, on which the bones rest; over the remains there is also a layer of sand, about six inches deep, leaving a vacant space of about a foot between it and the stones which form the covering of the grave. No indication of clothing, no weapon, ornament or any other object, has ever been found with these human remains, as far as I can ascertain; and in the numerous graves which I have examined, when freshly opened, nothing has appeared, differing from the description above given. The skulls appear, mostly, from the sound state of the teeth, which are little worn, to have been those of young persons, and they are of large size. Towards the upper part of the tumulus, under the remains of the chapel, there is a great mass of human bones; and occasionally the perfect skeletons of children have been found, without any stone cist or grave, intermixed with the sand, and quite embedded in the walls of the chapel. In one part, at a depth of about three feet below the surface, and for about three feet in length, a stratum of charcoal, or burnt wood, and a dark substance resembling burnt bones, is visible; but the extent of this layer beneath the surface cannot as yet be ascertained[1].
The foundation walls extend to a depth of eleven feet into the mound; they measure about four feet in thickness; the lower portion being formed of dry masonry, and the
- ↑ The following measurements will suffice to give a correct idea of the size of the
tumulus, and ruined chapel:—
- Diameter of the mound, from N. to S.
230 FT.
- Diameter of the area on the summit
50 —
- Circumference at the base
750 —
- Circumference of the area
150 —
- Height of the mound above the surrounding sward
31 —
- Height above the shore
36 —
