Frederick Corbin Lukis

“ Those structures which have resisted the effects of time and remain entire, owe their preservation, in many instances, to their remote distance from the haunts of man, or to that superstition which has in after ages paralyzed the hand of wanton destruction. ”

“ The cromlech represented at the head of this article is called "the Trepied," a name sufficiently modern to denote the loss of its original appellation. It is of an oblong figure and was covered by three or four capstones, the principal of which remains in its place, the others have fallen in. Jars, human bones, and flint arrow-heads, were found in the interior. The character of the pottery bore a strong resemblance to that discovered in several places in the island of Herm, the urns usually being tulip-shaped, with a few markings and borders of irregular patterns, evidently done by the hand. ”

“ It will be easy to perceive that the various heaps of human remains, which lay scattered on the floor of the cromlech, had been therein deposited at different times. The shapes of the urns in like manner, denoted an improvement in their manufacture, but it was only after having explored several cromlechs that the primeval deposit was clearly ascertained, as consisting of materials of different periods. ”

“ The human remains, pottery, and vessels, were discovered in the two long chambers, which form what has been termed the avenue to the main one. (Additional chambers would be more correct.) The third, or northern compartment, contained human remains of men, women, and children, with several vases, bone instruments, and a celt; but some of the pottery belonged to urns, of which portions had been found in other parts of the cromlech. ”

“ The cromlechs of the Channel Islands, from whose enclosures, intermixed with the vestiges of mortality, have been obtained a variety of stone instruments, well adapted to the necessities of a rude and simple people inhabiting the wilds of a primitive country, vary in their arrangement and construction precisely in the same manner as has been observed in other countries. ”

“ The round and oval compressed clay-beads discovered at L'ancresse, as well as at Carnac, cannot but excite enquiry as to their use; their size would render them inconvenient to be worn round the neck as ornaments, but if used only at the funeral rites, they would tend to express the feelings of the attendants on those mournful occasions, and, as we observe in the customs of other nations, they would be laid with the remains left in the sepulchre. ”

“ In most instances the mode of fracture was indicated by the edge of the fragments, and confirmed the supposition of the gradual filling of those vessels which had retained an upright position in the cromlech. When the primeval deposit consisted of two or more layers, the difference was easily perceived by the yellow clay which prevailed in the lowest bed, and in which the more ancient materials were always discovered. The next stratum was of a dark colour, and contained a greater number of limpet shells and vessels, differing in shape and material. ”

“ It is scarcely necessary to state, that ancient remains which have outlived their generation, and have lost their original purpose, are like the dead over which they preside, the subjects of much speculation and hypothesis. From the want of favourable opportunities to investigate these structures, conjecture has been excited and coupled with traditionary fables so predominant in the country: these opinions are maintained with great obstinacy, and it is still difficult to raise a doubt contrary to the received creed. ”

“ The primeval antiquities, to use a term which distinguishes the earliest period from that which is more recent, have essential characters assigned to them, and include all those massive structures of whose origin no authentic record has been obtained or discovered. The early antiquarian remains in these islands belong to a period connected with that which has usually been called British, Gaulish, Cymric, and Celtic, and were certainly the works of the primeval race which inhabited them. ”

“ An accurate plan and sketch are taken of such appearances as present themselves before working. All the undulations of the surface near the spot are observed; a slight ascent of a few inches towards the suspected site has often proved a valuable indication, and tended to confirm the question of a recent or primeval disturbance of the original ground; a dry or barren portion of land has often pointed to a shallow depth of soil, resting over a concealed grave or catacomb. ”

“ Grinding trough and stone implements in the Cromlech at L'ancresse portions of stone troughs used for pounding, flat stone quoits, animal bones burnt, and stone hammers. The lowest bed now appeared, in which were found jars and vessels of sun-baked pottery, human bones, burnt and unburnt, mixed with smooth pebbles of dark blue sienite and greenstone, flint arrow-heads, and stone celts. The mass in the centre of the cromlech lay in greater confusion and disturbance than the substances which were found near the sides. ”

“ It has been remarked that several of them are placed nearly east and west; this is often the case in these islands as well as in France, but whether from accident or design, it is difficult to decide: many in Brittany are due north and south; two out of three at L'ancresse in this island, are also in that position; and in the plain in the island of Herm, one due east and west is only 30 feet distant from another north-west and south-east; with this exception, all the large cromlechs, in Guernsey at least, are placed east and west. ”

“ At Carnac, amidst an abundance of pottery of the former quality, only one fragment of this last was discovered.
These urns were taken from the principal cromlech at L'ancresse; they are of the finer sort of clay, and appear entirely done by the hand without any mould or lathe. ”

“ The two small cromlechs here represented, are both on the plain of L'ancresse in Guernsey; they consist of props and capstone, and have their openings to the southward; several portions of earthen vessels, celts, and arrow-points, were discovered in them in 1838; the quality of the pottery was of a finer description in several instances than that of the large cromlech on the hill near them. ”

“ The interior in form resembles (although at present it is in a less perfect state) the celebrated cromlech in the isle of Gavr' Innis in the Morbihan. The total length is about 40 feet, but the east end near the road is abruptly stopped by a large stone, which probably once was placed on the adjoining props: if so, some portion of the end was destroyed in making the road. The western chamber of Du Tus, covered by three capstones, is about 16 feet square, or nearly double the size of that at Gavr' Innis ”

“ Such a variety of objects and localities, denoting remains associated with paganism, within a short distance from each other, can scarce be the effect of accident. The proximity of Christian chapels, built almost on the very site of these places in the first years of missionary exertions, is a fact which also deserves notice. The large cromlech and circle of Du Tus, or De Hus, is on the same hill as the first Christian chapel, built by St. ”