The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-10 00:00:00

Pre-historic Man.

In the autumn of last year, in order to erect a
new and permanent viaduct across the Der went
Valley near Malton, the North-Eastern Railway
Company commenced the formation of cofferdams
on each side of the river. In the first formed, on
the Malton side, as reported at the time, after 10ft.
of the fluviatile post-tertiary clay had been exca-
vated, a three-feet bed of alluvial silt was entered,
which abounded with water, and caused the
cofferdam to burst. Beneath this sand was
the Kimmeridge clay of the Vale of Pickering,
and upon it, at a depth of thirteen feet, the
femoral and pelvic bones of a human being were
thrown out, the skull then being left within the
piles forming the dam. An enlarged dam having
been formed, operations were re-commenced last
week, when the skull so much desired was fortu-
nately obtained, and isnow deposited in the collection
of pre-historic crania of the Rev. -William Green-
well, of Durham. The bones, from long steeping,
have become blackened and devoid of lime, re-
sembling leather more than bone, and are much im-
pregnated with vivianite. The body has been that
of a male of small stature, apparently from 40 to 45
years of age. The teeth have all been present, and
are not much worn, but the sagittal stature of the
skull is almost obliterated, and so is the coronal
suture. It has been supposed that the body was one
of an early British race, but the skull is not at all
typical, and not in the least like those obtained from
either the long or the round barrows of the Britons.
It is very broad in the occipital region, and rather
narrow in the frontal ; but the main characteristic
is flatness. Mr. Greenwell says the skull is very like
some he has from a Kentish Roman cemetery, but
is relatively broader in the occipital region. He can
offer no conjecture as to race, but supposes the man
may have been a dependent on the Romano-British
camp at Malton, probably au auxiliary. This view
is strengthened by the finding, in another excava-
tion, but on the opposite side of the river, and also
below the clay and silt, a rudely formed vessel, up-
turned. This is about six inches higher, and is
irregularly hand-made, entirely without ornament,
but is not like British ware at all. The material is
more like the ordinary bluish Roman pottery, and
is hard-baked, but there is neither the form nor
finish of Roman ware, nor any trace of the potter's
wheel. The shape is that of the " food vessel," and
if Romano-British is extremely rude indeed. Up to
the present time no further object has been found.
The skeleton and the pot seem to have reference to
the same date, being both found at the same depth
(loft. clay and 3ft. silt), both also being below the
bed of the river Derwent considerably. Duringthe
human period there has been considerable alteration
in the geological deposits on the surface, as was re-
cently illustrated by the section of the cutting for
the Norton drainage close by, where an ancient
(supposed) British trackway was found beneath
water-borne sand and gravel. Mr. Greenwell,
Captain Copperthwaite, and other antiquaries and
geologists, consider that the skeleton and urn mark
the level of the British period, and that the super-
imposed beds have been left by the river accumula-
tions since that period. A look-out is being kept
for any object likely to give further light.

THE COAL EXCIIANGE.—A licence was granted
on Saturday by the London Quarter Sessions to the re-
freshment rooms of the Coal Exchange

SUSPECTED SUlClDES.—Yesterday morning, as
some bargemen were proceeding down the towing-path of
the River Lea, Essex, near the White House, Hackney-
marshes, their attention was directed to a large bundle
floating on the surface of the water, and on getting it ashore
they found it to bs the body of a gentleman. A shell was
at once procured, and the body removed to Honierton work-
house to await the inquest. The deceased was about 45
years of age, sft. Gin. high, brown hair, dressed in black
coat, trousers, and waistcoat, white shirt and stockings, and
Wellington boots. The body of a well-dressed woman was
also found in the Serpentine, Hyde-park. The deceased was
dressed in black silk, aged about 50 years, sft. 3in. high.
The body was convoyed to Mount-etreet workhouse.