Description of and remarks upon an ancient calvaria from China, which has been supposed to be that of Confucius / by George Busk.

  • Busk, George, 1807-1886.
Date:
[1870?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Description of and remarks upon an ancient calvaria from China, which has been supposed to be that of Confucius / by George Busk. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Mr. Hyde Clarke said, with reference to the age of the kitchen- midden in Guernsey, that it did not follow, because the pottery was of the class called by us Samian, that the period was Eoman. He had found the like pottery in the kitchen-midden pointed out by him on ISIount Pagus, at Smyrna. It was possible that the pottery might have been imported earlier than the Eoman period. He thought it very desirable that the theoretical matter in the paper should be turned to account. He considered the Council might endeavour to get the States of the Islands to extend their protection to public objects, and to give greater facilities for the conversion of these monuments into heirlooms. With regard to the favourite assign- ment of these megalithic remains to the Celts, he knew of no justi- fication for it. Their distribution is not conformable to the Celtic area, and the Celtic nomenclature is not distinctive or historical, but meaning only “ long stones,” “ great stones,” &c., which forms usually imply that the monuments belonged to a much earlier popu- lation. Col. A. Lane Fox observed that he had found hand-bricks of the same kind as those mentioned by Mr. Flower in a pit near St. Peters, Broadstairs, associated with Eoman pottery and with evidence of the fabrication of flint implements: the contents of this pit had been described in the first number of the Society’s Journal for the year 1869. He did not concur with Mr. Hyde Clarke in thinking that Samian pottery, in this country, could be attributed to pre-Eoman times. He thought that the occurrence of Samian w'are, wherever found, might be regarded as a proof of Eoman occupation. It was not, however, to be inferred from the presence of this class of pottery in the kitchen-middens referred to by Mr. Flower, that other kitchen- middens were Eoman, but only those in which the Eoman pottery occurred. A kitchen-midden might be of any date ; the period could only be determined by the characters of the associated remains ; and many were proved to belong to the early stone age. At Eichborough, in Kent, examples of kitchen-middens might be seen belonging ex- clusively to the Eoman age. Ordinary Meeting, December 21st, 1869. 1 Proeessor Huxley, LL.D., F.E.S., President., in the Chair. New Members.—Eev. James Simpson ; George Campbell, Esq.; Dr. Tho.mas Nicholas, M.A., F.G.S. The following paper was read by the author :— VIII. Description of and Eemarks upon an Ancient Calva*** from China, which has been supposed to be that o/Confucius. By George Busk, Esq., F.ll.S. Amongst the various curiosities of the Great Exhibition of 1862, there was scarcely any more striking and interesting, of its kind.