Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/343

 THE ROYAL ARCH^OLOGICAL INSTITUTE. 287 covered over by large flints, of which two or three cart-loads had been collected to form a sejiulchral cairn ; amongst these were found three rudely formetl flint implements similar to those that are occasionally found on tlie surface in the immediate neighbourhood. The urn is of ver}' rude ])ottery, with rows of indentations that may have been pro- duced by the thumb-nail. Near this vessel, which was al)out half full of incinerated bones, lay a round piece of potteiy of the same kind of coarse ware, that had possibly formed a cover for the urn, a circumstance, how- ever, of extremely rare occurrence, or it might have been the bottom of anotlier sepulchral vessel that had decayed. In the Dcverel l)arrow, distant about three miles from the site under consideration, and opened by Mr. William Kiches in 1S25, several urns of the like peculiar form were brouglit to light, and they are figured in his narrative of tiiat highly curious group of early interments. The vessels there found were presented to the museum of the Scientific Insti- tution at Bristol, and since thc}' have been suttered to perish by neglect •and decay. The example lately obtained by Mr. Brown at Dewlish has a greater degi'ce of interest to the antiquary, the type being compara- tively uncommon, although certain specimens may be found in the valuable work by Mr. C. ^Varne on the sepulchral pottery of Dorset. At a short distance from the central deposit, a second urn of a very diflxTcnt type was found near the margin of the mound : it was siu-- rounded by black buined earth containing pieces of charcoal, and measured about 10 inches in height. It is of much thinner and better ware than that first described : it contained burned bones, and was scored with jilain lines around the neck, having also at intervals some small perforated loops or ears, through which a string might be passed, for attaching some covering over the mouth of the vessel. This con- trivance, which has occasionally occuri'ed in sepulchral vessels found in Dorset, and figured in the valuable work by Mr. Warne above mentioned, is well deserving of consideration, as a feature of detail that may throw- some light on the usages connected with these ancient mortuaiy deposits. The fashion of the Dewlish unis is well illustrated by the photograph submitted to the Meeting. Dr. TnunxAM, M.D., F.S.A., sent some obseiTations on the urns found in this baiTow. "The urns found liy Mr. Brown in the barrow at Dewlish deserve a few remarks. That containing the central deposits seems of flower- j)Ot shape — the fifth variety of cinerary urn according to my classifica- tion. This form is not peculiar to any district of England, but is extremely prevalent in Doi-setshire, and out of eighteen urns from the banow at Deverell, situated three or four miles from Dewlish, there were four of this type.' " The other urn, foiuul iu the skirt of the barrow (in which situation other deposits of the same kind would probably be found on further examination) is a much rarer fonn of fictile vessel. It belongs to my seventh ami last variety — the globular urn. Such urns arc generally of superior fabric, the clay more finely tempered, thinner and more compact than in the other tyjies, and the surface somewhat red and smooth. They are generally of medium size, from 7 to 11 inches in height. Their rounded 7 Milw, Deverell Barrow, 1826, pi. ii. 2; v. 3,11 ; vi. 12.