6. The pits were usually some six or eight feet in diameter; and they probably had cone-shaped roofs, formed by poles tied together, and covered with peat. In the centre of the hut was the hearth, which was made of flints carefully placed together. The hut would hold two or three people, and the fire on the hearth was its most important feature. The hut in the centre of the group belonged to the head of the family, and other huts were ranged round it. 7. Surrounding the group was an earthen rampart for further protection; and these earthworks can still be traced in many parts of the country. The huts have gone, of course, and all that can be seen in most cases now is a number of circular patches in the turf, slightly hollowed. People living in the neighbourhood will very likely speak of them as "fairy rings". It is from a careful examination of these hollows that learned men have been able to gather much information concerning the habits of these Pit-Dwellers. 8. We English folk speak proudly of "hearth and home"; they are the centre of our social life, and the idea has come down to us through all these long, long ages. The hearth and the fire upon it was the centre of the life of these men, and the head of a family was also its priest. 9. Some of the best known of these pit-dwellings are found near Brighthampton, in Oxfordshire; at Wortebury, near Weston-super-Mare; and along the Cotswolds, looking over the Severn Valley; and at Hurstbourne, in Hampshire. 10. In the course of time this race seems to have learned something in the way of cultivating the ground. The hilltops, where they built their huts, were only suited for their cattle, and in order to find soil which they could till they had to go outside their earthwork, and some distance down the hill-slope. By their way of digging the ground they gradually, in the course of many years, carved broad terraces, one below the other, on the hillsides. There are some very marked traces of such terraces still to be seen near Hitchin and Luton.[1] 11. In the course of time--how long ago it is still quite impossible to say--a race of men, more advanced than these early Pit-Dwellers, found their way to this part of the world. They were more civilized, and were =Aryans=; that is, they were cultivators of the soil. You may be pretty sure that fighting took place between the two races. 12. The newer race preferred to make their settlements near running streams. In the middle of each settlement there would be an open space, or meeting-ground, usually a small hill or a mound, round which their huts were built. Beyond this was the garden-ground, then the ground where the grain was grown, and beyond that the grazing-lands. These men began cultivating at the bottom of the hillsides and valleys, and as they required more ground they would advance higher up the slopes.