Keith had suggested that the crania he examined displayed similar features , which he attributed to the different individuals belonging to " one family - or several families united by common descent . " Similar observations had been made regarding the crania from other long barrows in Britain , although osteoarchaeologists Martin Smith and Megan Brickley noted that this was not necessarily representative of a family group . Instead , they stated that it would also be consistent with " a population that was still relatively small and scattered " , in which most individuals were interrelated .