Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 3.djvu/284

256 had been first dug, charcoal and bones burnt in it, the vase placed on the fire in an inverted position, and the whole covered up. About ten feet eastward of the central deposit, on the south side of the line of excavation, and half a foot deeper, a deposit of fragments of bone was found, apparently calcined, with but little charcoal, or burnt earth, forming a layer not more than three inches thick, and two feet in circumference. There were several pieces of the skull, a portion of the alveolar process, inclosing a tooth, apparently that of a young person, pieces of the femur and clavicle, and other fragments. A little to the north of this spot there appeared a mass of charcoal and burnt earth, containing nothing of interest. After digging five or six feet deeper, operations were discontinued; and on the next day shafts were excavated from the centre, so as completely to examine every part, without any further discovery; and in every direction charcoal was found mingled with the heap, not in patches, but in fragments.

The other barrow was raised in a less conspicuous situation, about 300 yards down the south slope of Allington Hill, part of the same range situate about a quarter of a mile to the south-west. Both are marked in the Ordnance map. An entrance was obtained from the east-north-east, passing south-south-west, through the centre of the mound. Here a thin layer of charcoal appeared, extending many feet in every direction. Amongst the soil thrown out, portions of two vases, broken, probably, at a previous opening, were found, sufficing to prove that this had been an early Celtic, and not Roman, deposit. One was the lip of a vase of red ware, the other a portion of a jar of the usual coarse unbaked pottery, of black colour. In this tumulus were found two small rounded pieces of hard chalk, of the lower strata, called clunch. One was a perfect ball, smooth, measuring an inch in diameter; the other was of the same size, ground down in a regular manner, reducing it to a turbinated shape, as here represented. It had been, probably, intended to perforate these as beads ; a specimen of the same material, ground down in a similar manner, and perforated, is in the possession of Mr. Collings.

It is very uncertain for what purpose the objects, designated by Mr. Collings as beads, were fabricated. They are frequently found in tumuli, or near earth-works and remains of early occupation: they are mostly formed of indurated clay, bone, or stone, sometimes almost spherical, whilst other specimens are of flattened form, perforated, in all cases, in the direction of the smaller diameter. They vary from about one to two inches in diameter. The conjecture appears probable that they may have been used in connection with the distaff, and the occurrence of such an object in a tumulus might thus serve to indicate the interment of a female. Some northern