Simultaneously with the non-use of the ancient stones, we may imagine that the priests--of ever-increasing importance--no longer dwelt in their cromlechs, but, rather, occupied such buildings as those which remain at Chysoister, and from this date it is possible that burials may have taken place in some of the mounds then given up as dwelling places. As sacred places they were subsequently used for burials, as Westminster Abbey has been; but burials were not the object of their erection.[132] This new habit may have started the practice of cist burial by later people in barrows thrown up for that special purpose. I cannot close this Chapter without expressing my admiration of the learning and acumen displayed by Dr. Borlase in his treatment of the subject of the Druids in his _History of Cornwall_, published in 1769; I find he has anticipated me in suggesting that the hollowed stones were used for fires. It is clear, now that the monuments have been dated, that the astronomical knowledge referred to by Cæsar and Pomponius Mela was no new importation; if, therefore, the present view of ethnologists that the Celtic intrusion took place about 1000 B.C. is correct, it is certain the Celts brought no higher intelligence with them than was possessed by those whom they found here; nor is this to be expected if, as the inquiry has suggested, the latter were the representatives of the highest civilisation of the East with which possibly the former had never been brought into contact. [127] _The Testimony of Tradition._ [128] _History of Human Marriage_, Chapter II. [129] _Celtic Folklore_, ii., 654. [130] _Pomp. Mela_, Lib. II. c. 2. I have already (p. 52) quoted Cæsar’s testimony to the same effect. [131] “Disciplina in Britannia reperta, atque in Galliam translata esse existimatur.”--_C. Bell. Gall._ lib. vi. c. 13. This “discipline” also included magic according to Pliny. “Britannia hodie eam (_i.e._ Magiam) attonite celebrat tantis ceremoniis, ut eam Persis dedisse videri possit” (lib. xxx. c. 1.) [132] Bertrand and Reinach, _Les Celtes et les Gaulois dans les Vallées du Pô et du Danube_, p. 82. Tregellis, “Stone Circles in Cornwall.” _Trans._ Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society, 1893-4. APPENDICES I. DETAILS OF THE THEODOLITE OBSERVATIONS AT STONEHENGE The instrument chiefly employed was a six-inch transit theodolite by Cooke with verniers reading to 20″ in altitude and azimuth. Most of the observations were made at two points very near the axis, which may be designated by _a_, _b_. Station _a_ was at a distance of 61 feet to the south-west of the centre of the temple, and _b_ 364 feet to the north-east. The distance from the centre of Stonehenge to Salisbury Spire being 41,981 feet, the calculated corrections for parallax at the points of observation with reference to Salisbury Spire are:-- Station _a_ + 4′ 12″. „ _b_ - 25′ 20″. (1) _Relative Azimuths._--Theodolite at station _a_--