XXXV.—Note on the opening of four Ancient British Barrows in South Wilts. By John Yonge Akerman, Secretary

Extract

Notwithstanding the obscurity in which the early history of Britain is enveloped, the antiquary still fondly clings to the hope that some additional light may be cast upon it by the acquisition of monumental evidence. Accident sometimes produces relics which keep alive this hope, and induce a further investigation of the sepulchral mounds which yet abound on our downs and uncultivated land. These however, unlike the grouped tumuli and graves of the Saxon period, offer but few provocatives to explore them. Their frequent large size, their compact construction, the time occupied in a proper investigation of their contents, and their situation frequently in lofty or exposed districts, render this description of barrow-digging at once tedious, irksome, and laborious.