The Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Vol. 17: Established 1843; For the Encouragement and Prosecution of Researches Into the Arts ... the Early and Middle Ages (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from The Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Vol. 17: Established 1843; For the Encouragement and Prosecution of Researches Into the Arts and Monuments of the Early and Middle Ages

The numerous camps and other ancient remains in our island afford abundant evidence of the character of the masonry attributed to the early Britons. The circuits of their camps, or fortified towns, designated by Caesar as oppz'da, were often very carefully built and, though without mortar, the stones were so well put together, that in many places the substructions, and some other parts of the walls, have remained to this day in a very perfect condition, wherever the hand of man has not interfered to injure or disturb them.

When the stones were of small Size, they have generally owed their preservation to the fall of the upper portion of the wall, which has buried them under a heap of fragments, and thus acted as a cover from the weather, and as a sup port to the masonry; and when, as in Devonshire and Cornwall, the granite blocks were of great Size, their own weight has tended to keep them in their original osition. But they have never entirely escaped the effect 0 human violence the upper portions of the walls have always been thrown down, and the ruined mass lies in confusion below, frequently overgrown with turf. In many cases, however.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.