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implements and those discarded on account of some fault. The
implements at this incomplete stage were distributed (by barter
or sale ?) and probably finished by the purchaser.
The dead were buried in a mound of earth called a Tumulus
or Barrow, or under a heap of stones known as a Cairn. Some-
times these are of great size, oval or circular in shape and
contain an inner chamber built of slabs of stone, with a
tunnel communicating with the entrance. In this chamber
the dead were laid, often in a crouched position, which is
supposed to be the posture in which the people slept and died.
In some cases the body was burnt and the ashes were placed in
urns of coarse pottery. Generally speaking the characteristic
barrow of this age is oval or long, as distinct from the smaller
circular barrow of the Bronze age, and it is noticeable that the
skulls found in the former are of the shape known as the long
type, while those of the latter are round.
The forms of these barrows are supposed to have been
derived from those of the habitations of their builders. Some
northern races still live in huts, closely resembling the long
barrow, made of earth piled over a subterranean chamber—a
device to secure warmth.
In the Camps of this period are found clusters of circular
pits or depressions, which were roofed with constructions of
" wattle and daub." These camps or settlements were defended
by ditches and ramparts, which were strengthened with a
pallisade. The best record of the conditions of life in Neolithic
times is furnished by the Lake Dwellings, some of which date
from this period, although most of them belong to the succeeding
age of Bronze. These dwellings were constructed on piles
driven into the lake-mud, or in the shallower lakes and streams
on a bed of faggots, earth and stones, secured by stakes and built
up just above the water level, making a platform or '• fascine "
on which the huts were erected ; a narrow causeway serving to
communicate with the shore. These sites are found most
commonly in Switzerland, but they also occur over a great part
of Europe. In Ireland and Scotland they are known as Cran-
noges ; some have also occurred in England. Owing to the
peculiar preserving properties of the peaty lake-mud, in which
he objects are imbedded, much evidence has been found relating
to the people of the newer Stone-age. Remains have been dis-