Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1886 V23 Pages 117-118. 12 Aug 1886. This was followed by a paper on "Ringsbury Camp"' by the Rev. W. H. E. Mc. Knight, which, in the absence of that gentleman, was very kindly read by Mr. James Sadler, of Purton; and then Mr. William Cunnington, F.G.S., exhibited and commented on several specimens of skulls of the dolichocephalic form, which had been taken from the famous long barrow known as "Bowlsbury Tump [Map]," near Heytesbury, opened by himself and Mr. Henry Cunnington, Hon. Curator of the Society, under the auspices of this Society, in June last. The skulls found are of much interest, all of them being of the long (dolichocephalic) shape. They confirm the views of our late fellow-Member, Dr. Thurnham, who first discovered the fact that the people who erected the long barrows possessed longer skulls than those of the people of the round barrows, who succeeded them, and longer than those of any of the modem races of Europeans. They are apparently the most ancient inhabi- tants of this island of whom any record exists. No implements of metal of any kind have been found in their interments, and their pottery is of the rudest kind, without any ornaments. The only traces of art found in Bowls Barrow are flint flakes, struck off in making implements, and an oval quartzite pebble, which has been used at both ends as a hammer. The skulls, or fragments of skulls, of at least fourteen individuals were found on the late occasion: more than half of these had been cleft or fractured, apparently at the time of death. Several of them were shown at the Meeting; also specimens illustrating the differences between the long skulls of the long barrow type, and the shorter skulls o£ the round barrow period. As all these papers will appear in the Magazine, they need not be further mentioned here: needless, too, to say that their authors were severally thanked from the chair, and that the approbation of the audience was made very manifest. Before leaving the room, the President expressed, on behalf of the Society, their gratitude to the inhabitants of Swindon generally for the kind, courteous, and hospitable way in which they had been received; to the Secretaries of the Meeting more especially (Mr. Kinneir, Mr. Shopland, and Mr. Radway), for all the trouble taken by those gentlemen on their behalf, and which had resulted in a very successful Meeting; and last, but not least, to Major Dean, for the facilities he had granted to such of the Members as were wise enough to avail themselves of them, for seeing the celebrated Locomotive and Carriage Works of the G. W. R. Company.

Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1913 V38 Pages 379-414. Norton Bavant. 13. [Norton Down Long Barrow aka Norton Bavant 13 [Map]] On Norton Down. Length 180ft.: E. and W. Opened by Thurnam, and the following note is from his MS. Cat.: "The barrow chiefly of chalk rubble appears to have contained no secondary interments, which were extensively searched for. There was no stratum of black earth, but under the eastern apex, on the floor of the barrow, was a confused mass of skeletons spread over a space about 8ft. long and 3ft. broad. Above these the flints were larger and more numerous, and mixed with an occasional small block of sarsen stone and of the ' Warminster burr ' of the upper greensand. The portions of skulls indicated at least 18 skeletons, though whether they had been buried here entire seemed doubtful from the small number of the long bones. Of the 18 I computed 8 of males, 5 of females, and 5 children. So far as can be made out, all were decidedly dolichocephalic, and 9 of the more perfect calvaria which have been preserved (at Cambridge) have a cephalic index varying from '63 to '73, and averaging '68. The only other relics found with these human remains consisted of a round battered nodule of flint weighing 3f lbs., the greater part of a curious rude shallow vase of black pottery with two handles. The paste is mixed with particles of small fossil oyster shells from the tertiary clay beds, it is thought of Hampshire. There was also one large horn of red deer with the human remains. The broken vase was in their midst, and had probably been deposited entire, though no part of the base was found. The flint nodule lay close to one of the skulls, nearly all of which present traces of having been broken, some of them perhaps with this very nodule. One skeleton lay rather apart from the others to the north, and the skull of this is the most perfect of the series, and remarkable as presenting no trace of having been cleft. The lower jaw is nearly perfect, the upper too much decayed to be restored. Excavated June 8th, 1866." This fine barrow stands on uncultivated down land; the ditches are very well defined, and contrary to the usual rule are slightly longer at both ends than the mound itself. The mound shows in several places where it has been dug into. O.M. 52 NW.; A. W. I. 67; Arch. xlii. 180, 182, 184, 194—5; Bull, de la Soc. d' Anthrop. 2 S. ii. 357, 677, fig.; Mem. Anthrop. Soc. iii. 71; MS. Gat. 245—253. This is the barrow referred to by Thurnam as "Norton Bavant.