Page:VCH Sussex 1.djvu/407

 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS of this part of the camp. Various excavations had been made in former years within the intrenchments, but the existence of a Saxon cemetery had not hitherto been suspected ; and the discoveries made in 1893 ^"^ 1^94 f^'' surpassed in interest and value all previous results. The area excavated, which seems to include all the Saxon burials within the ramparts, extends northwards from about the middle of the southern side, and can only have been used as a cemetery during a limited period. The graves are of uniform construction, there being at most half-a-dozen exceptions to the rule that the body should lie stretched on the back, with the head at the west end of the grave. The depth varied from 2I to 5 ft. from the surface, the solid chalk, forming the bottom of the grave ; and the filling in was, first, chalk rubble, above which was often found a layer of grey material, as if a kind of plaster had been made of the chalk. This grey layer sometimes extended to the upper soil, and when thus found was a sure indication of a grave beneath. Al- though there was no apparent design in the arrangement of the graves, yet there was never any overlapping of the various interments, nor in any case did two bodies lie in one grave. The limits of each burial were quite distinct, and though sometimes two were close together, there was no appearance of chance in the selection of the spot. It may be concluded that here, as at Farthingdown, Surrey, and elsewhere, some kind of memorial of a more or less permanent character Iron 'Angon,' High Down Cemetery. (I) had been placed above each grave, but no traces of such exist ; and it may safely be assumed that the surface of the ground within the ancient camp has, apart from natural causes, not been altered in any way since the cemetery was made. The skeletons presented no remarkable features, but the men were mostly of large build, the thigh bone indicating a height of about 6 feet, and none had the appearance of old age, if the state of the teeth may be taken as an indication. A curious parallel to an instance at Firle was noticed in the case of a young man who had a hole in his skull large enough to admit a finger, but death had not been instantaneous, for the opening had been originally twice as large, and the bone had therefore grown considerably since the wound was inflicted. The orderly arrangement of the cemetery and the care evidently be- stowed on the interments are sufficient argument that here, as in so many other localities, the inhabitants were in peaceful possession of the land ; and it seems probable that the settlement in this case was on the lower land at Goring or Ferring, each about a mile distant from the hill, and, as the names imply, both of Saxon origin. Details of all the graves are supplied in Mr. Read's two papers, and it will only be necessary to notice here the more remarkable relics recovered from the site. To deal first with weapons, a single example of the so-called ' angon ' (see fig.) was unearthed, the characteristics of 341