[217] Minute details, such as are given in the text, of the disposition of the arms and hands, are always open to some doubt. Unless where the cist is filled with earth, the bones must necessarily fall from their original position on the decay of the enveloping tissues; and when so filled, the earth has generally percolated into it long subsequent to the interment. Those who have frequently opened barrows must be well aware how difficult it is to ascertain with any certainty much more than the general relative position of the bones and skull.
[218] Jour. of Archæol. Association, vol. iv. p. 65.
[219] Torquay and Tor Directory, Aug. 14, 1850.
[220] "Discovered in the black mould certain rudely shaped pieces of oak, one of which was immediately shewn me by the finder. It was about the length and form of the human foot, and hollowed in the centre, not unlike a sandal." The name, it should be added, was only meant as a convenient distinctive appellation.
[221] In the original notes from which the memoir appears to have been compiled, the condition of this skeleton is thus described:—"Its teeth, most of which I collected, are with one exception sound and un-discoloured, that they belonged to a robust adult, they and the fragments of the skull and vertebræ abundantly testify. The front or incisor teeth are what are called double teeth."
[222] Cavern Researches, or Discoveries of Organic Remains, and of British and Roman Reliques in the Caves of Kent's Hole, Anstis Cove, &c. By the Rev. J. MacEnery, F.G.S.
[223] Archæological Journal, vol. i. p. 272.