Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/83

Rh portions are shown, the drawing being made to a scale of 4 inches to a foot. It was found in the usual position, that is, bottom upwards; it was very much cracked, and, upon an attempt being made to remove it, it fell to pieces, and, such was its state, that all efforts to collect the fragments in order to its restoration were ineffectual. I therefore took the dimensions, and completed the drawing from a fragment which we brought away. The mode in which this urn is ornamented is unusual, being a variation from the ordinary zig-zag fashion in the rudely scored ornament on the surface. This is the second urn found on this part of the Downs within about eighteen months." The rim, or upper portion above the projecting shoulder of the urn is scored with straight lines alternately horizontal and perpendicular, and at some distance below the shoulder a row of horse-shoe markings runs round the urn. The ornamentation by lines alternating in this manner occurs on the urns found at Broughton, Lincolnshire, figured in this Journal, vol. viii. p. 199.

Several sepulchral urns of the earliest period have been discovered on the Sussex Downs, the most remarkable being that disinterred at Storrington, measuring 21 inches in height, and those found at Alfriston, recently purchased for the British Museum. (Sussex Archæol. Coll., vol. i. p. 55, vol. ii. p. 270). See also Horsfield's History of Lewes, p. 48, p. 5.

Mr., of Burbage, Wilts, communicated a note of some ancient horse-shoes in his possession, considered by the late Mr. Bracy Clark and others to be Roman. One was found at the foot of Silbury Hill, between Marlborough and Beckhampton, in removing the boundary of the meadow on which the hill stands. It lay in a bed of chalk, and the nails remained in the shoe, but no trace of hoof or bones was found. The other was found in gravel on Beckhampton Down, about two miles distant from Silbury, nearly three feet under the surface. These shoes are so much alike in form and size as to give the idea that they might have belonged to the same set. The late Dean of Hereford obtained a similar horse-shoe, found with others and a skeleton, a short distance north-west of Silbury, and it is figured amongst the Illustrations of his Diary, given in the Salisbury Transactions of the Institute, p. 110, fig. 19.

The Hon. communicated an account of Castel del Monte, near Ardria, in Apulia, an ancient hunting-seat of the Emperor Frederic II., illustrated by ten views drawn for the late Hon. Keppel Craven by a Neapolitan artist, Carlo Paris. It is a structure of octagonal form, with a central court, and angle-turrets, each side of the octagon forming a separate chamber. "This interesting building (Mr. Strangways observed), now in a state of partial ruin, seems to have been erected in the early part of the XIIIth century. It is remarkably well constructed and perfectly symmetrical. Built of the rough limestone of the country, it is, within, partially lined and decorated with white or grey marble, of which the windows and other enriched portions, not very numerous, are composed. The whole appearance of this deserted palace suggests the idea of its having been formed for enjoyment, but with a certain view to defence; the taste that appears in many features is that of a court in which the arts and refinements of luxury were appreciated. The great entrance especially shows an intention of an approach to the classical styles, and the coins of Frederic II. exhibit a desire to return to the Roman type rather than to retain the Gothic forms of mediæval monetary art. The situation of the castle, though not picturesque, is