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INTRODUCTORY. 5
able river, and it was at the head of a valley along
the line of which there must at all times have been a
more or less beaten track communicating with the
north. The country on either side of this road, if it
could be dignified by that name, was unquestionably
one wide, almost unbroken, forest, full of wild
animals of all kinds, the hunting-ground of the
Brigantian tribes. The dwelling-places of these early
inhabitants of the country appear to have been fixed?
for the most part in what is now known as the wold
country, and the Cleveland hills, where hundreds of
circular pits, earth-works, and tumuli occur. Many
excavations of these have been made, notably in the
course of the last twenty years by the energy of Mr.
Greenwell, the results of which he has lately published.
Space forbids more than a mere mention of what
would be a most fascinating subject. Some were
obviously villages, or clusters of huts. Others were
thrown up as lines of defence, whilst the mounds or
tumuli were usually sepulchral. Circles and groups
of stone are not uncommon, more especially on the
north-eastern hills. The greater proportion of the
tumuli which have been opened are British interments.
No Roman tumulus has been discovered.
Anglo-Saxon remains are not uncommon.
The wold country would afford pasturage for flocks
and herds, and the vast forests which, varied probably
with occasional open glades, clothed the declivities of
the hills and the wide and far-stretching vale which
occupied the central part of this great county, would
afford ample scope for hunting the deer, the wild
boar, and perhaps the bison.