Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/470

336 containing coins of the Lower Empire, that were collected from the bed of the Thames by Henry Brandreth, Esq., in whose possession I saw gold and silver Roman coins in a mass of conglomerate, dredged up many years since near London Bridge.

Skulls and other parts of the skeletons of domestic animals, as the dog, cat, sheep, have been found in this modern fluviatile deposit, in the same mineralized state as fossil bones in tertiary strata of a similar character.

The beds of all the rivers flowing through the large cities of Europe must contain deposits of this nature, and abound in the remains of man and his works. A Roman skull, thickly invested with travertine, that was dredged up from the Tiber some years since, and is now in the British Museum, is an earnest of the relics which lie buried beneath the yellow waters of that celebrated river. Were the bed of the Tiber effectively explored, there can be no doubt that layers of crystalline limestone and conglomerate abounding in objects of deep interest to the archæologist as works of art, and to the geologist from the physical conditions under which they have been preserved, would be brought to light.

Pottery.—The remains of earthen vessels are even more durable than coins; and fragments of ancient pottery occur, not only mixed with other relics in deposits, but in some places on the shores of the Mediterranean, as the chief constituents of calcareous limestone disposed in regular layers, the artificial materials having been cemented together

by an infiltration of travertine. Urns, vases, &c., buried in calcareous or argillaceous strata, are often incrusted with tufa, or studded with crystals of carbonate or sulphate of lime, as on this Roman lamp, which was dug up near Naples, by my friend, Sir Woodbine Parish.