Notice of some Roman Urns recently discovered near Berwick-ujton- 

 Tweed. By Dr JOHNSTON. 



THE urns, of which figures are annexed, were lately discovered at 

 Murton, in the northern part of the county of Durham, and about four 

 miles from Berwick-upon- Tweed. They were buried, at no great depth, 

 in a light sandy soil raised into a sort of low mound, and were covered 

 or intermixed with stones disposed without order. The small one was 

 perfect, the two larger were broken into many pieces, but, by fitting these 

 together, a perfectly correct idea of their shape and sculpture was ob- 

 tained. The small one exactly resembled an old-fashioned salt-cellar : 

 the diameter of its mouth was nearly 2J inches, the greatest circumfer- 

 ence 10, and the height 2 inches. The height of the second was 6, the 

 diameter of its mouth 5j, and the greatest circumference 20 inches. The 

 third was a size larger ; and fragments, evidently belonging to still larger 

 urns, and of different patterns, were also procured from the same place. 

 All of them were made of the coarsest clay, such as is still found near 

 the spot where they were buried, and were so brittle, although half an 

 inch thick, that it was found impossible to remove them uninjured from 

 the soil. They had not been burned, but merely dried in the sun or in 

 an oven, and from the blackness of their interior, even this does not seem 

 to have been done perfectly. The sculpture on the exterior was of the 

 rudest and simplest kind, and executed probably with the trowel or a 

 knife. They were filled with a fine black dust or ash, and in some of 

 them fragments of bone were detected, which mouldered away on expo- 

 sure to the air. The small urn might be destined to hold the ashes of 

 the heart. To none of them was there a lid or cover. 



