⁶Grinsell, Leslie V. Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain. London: Newton Abbot, 1976. 16.
As an example of the medicinal efficacy associated with prehistoric tombs, Grinsell writes of "The activities of Dr. Toope of Marlborough (c. 1670) in concocting medicines from human bones dug up at the Sanctuary or barrows near it, and at the West Kennet long barrow in Wiltshire."
Author Thomas Keith describes this recourse to magic as being resorted to by earlier cultures "to explain misfortune and to mitigate its rigor." (Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971. 21.)