the same. There is, however, at Odendale a stone placed half-way between the two concentric circles. It is of the same size and character of those forming the circles, and though not in a line due east from the centre, is very nearly So. Neither at Odendale nor Knipe Scar was any deposit found either within the space between the circles or near to or under the stones forming it, though some of them were dug round, and some taken out of their position, and the site carefully examined. I need hardly say that the stones disturbed were replaced, and the circles left as nearly as possible in the condition in which they were found. I do not at present venture to offer any opinion upon the use of these circles, or their date, or the people by whom they were erected, my object is to collect and record facts, not to deduce inferences from or found theories upon these facts; and I shall merely observe that whatever other uses they may have had, they have at some period or other been used as places of deposit for the ashes of the dead. It is, however, worthy of observation, and suggestive of interesting thoughts, that barrows, or what are, in the neighbourhood of Shap, called hurrocks or raises, seem to have been formed in places originally occupied by these stone circles. At a place called Penhurrock, on the same moor as the circles at Odendale, there still exists one of these stone circles, connected with which, at no distant period, there was a large barrow. Tradition says that when the barrow or hurrock was removed burnt bones were found deposited in a small cist-shaped hole cut into the rock, and covered with a flat stone. Within the innermost circle at Gunnerkeld there are still the remains of a barrow or hurrock, which, though disturbed, does not appear to have been at any time thoroughly examined. Barrows or raises similar in character, though not always surrounded by a circle of stones, are by no means uncommon in the locality. At Sill-how, Odendale, closely adjoining the stone circles, I had one of these barrows opened, and on removing the stones, stones, found a cist, one side of which was formed by the rock, and the other and the ends of large stones, and the cover was a rough limestone slab cut from the rock, where it had cropped up to the surface, and placed upon its natural bed. The cist was not square, measuring on one side twenty inches, and on the other sixteen inches, the width was thirteen inches, the depth ten inches, and the length of the stone that formed the covering thirty inches. Another raise which I have examined is on Muir Divock, not far from a circle of stones called Standing Stones.* This raise is remarkable, not only because it is star-shaped, but because towards the west side, about half-way between the centre and the circumference, there are four upright stones placed in a straight row, and probably there were originally five. Opposite the largest of these stones, and in the centre of the same, was found a deposit of ashes and burnt bones, which had been enclosed in an urn. The stones forming the heap had been much disturbed, and the urn was broken, but when first discovered the rim was entire, and measured thirteen inches across. It was of the rudest manufacture, imperfectly burnt, and had been placed upside down. The raise could not at that time be further examined, but it is probable that each of the upright stones may have marked a similar deposit. Upon the same moor, within a very short distance, there is another barrow formed in the same way, having the same general appearance, and called by the same name of "raise," which, when opened, was found to consist of a cist formed of stones, and measuring four feet four inches in length, fourteen inches in width, and twentysix inches in depth. Each of the two sides had originally been formed of one stone, but one had evidently been broken by the workmen employed to place it, and the two pieces. were supported by a third. The cover consisted of two Since this paper was first published Mr. Greenwell and myself examined the centre of this circle, and found an urn containing burnt bones. Vide vol. i, p. 24, of Transactions of this Society. limestone limestone slabs taken from the surface of the rock, and placed with the natural bed downwards; the bottom was flagged with flat stones of different sizes. This cist or coffin contained portions of a skeleton, and from the position in which the thigh bones were found, it would appear that the legs must have been doubled underneath. The body had been laid east and west, and the thigh bones were at the east end of the coffin. Careful search was made for weapons or ornaments, but nothing whatever could be found. The bones were afterwards restored to their place, and the cover of the cist replaced in its original position. I have mentioned the barrows thus examined, partly because the three, though similar in appearance and character, disclosed three different kinds of sepulture, and partly because, though not now themselves surrounded by upright stones, they are similar to others so encircled, and are all of them in close proximity to stone circles. It is not improbable that the people by whom these barrows or raises were erected occasionally chose the space within an existing stone circle upon which to deposit the ashes of their dead, and then raised a barrow to cover them, and commemorate the fact. At some earlier period the ashes of another race may have been buried in the same place, and a circle of stones formed to mark and protect the deposit. As a general rule, when an urn or cist is covered by a barrow or raise, it seems originally to have been placed on the surface of the ground, and the stones or earth heaped round it. When any deposit is found within a circle of stones it is fifteen or twenty inches below the natural surface, and the ground remains at its original level. Whether these stone circles have had any other use than to mark a place of sepulture, protect the ashes of the dead, or do honour to the deceased, it is impossible to determine. That some of them have been used as places of burial there can be no doubt; that some of them have been twice used by two different races is highly probable; but whether, when originally constructed, they were meant meant to enclose the ashes of one person, or of as many as there are stones in the circles, or of a whole tribe, or of the chief of a tribe, it is impossible to say. So far as I have been able to examine the subject, I am inclined to the opinion that in each circle, or each set of concentric circles, there will be found one deposit.* More deposits than one have been found both in circles and barrows, but where such is the case there is reason to believe that the circle or barrow was intended for the central deposit, the others were placed after its construction at a period subsequent to the central deposit. It may be necessary to observe that though many of the stones forming the circles have been carefully examined, I have never found any marks or characters upon them. I have purposely omitted all allusion to the remains of the avenue near Shap, and "the huge stones of a pyramidal form, some of them nine feet high and fourteen. feet thick, standing in a row for near a mile, at an equal distance," described by Camden, because the facts connected with this remarkable monument have been recently published in the Archæological Journal, vol. 18, p. 25. But there are scattered about the district several large granite boulders, which seem to have been placed in their present position by the hand of man; and with the kind permission of the Society, I shall on some future occasion have much pleasure in detailing a few facts connected with these huge and massive monoliths in my own immediate neighbourhood. * See the Leacet Hill circle, Transactions of this Society, vol. 5, p. 76. |