92 THE KIMMERIDGE COAL MONEr. 



(and not the centre part) were the objects of interest to the 

 people who turned them. The fact of one of these armillaj being 

 found upon the arm of a skeleton at Dorchester in a cemetery, 

 described by Mr. Sydenham in the Archaeological Journal, seems 

 to confirm this view, that the rings or armillae were made for 

 use, and when turned out from the other portions, that which is 

 commonly called the 'Coal money,' was thrown away; we con- 

 sequently can arrive at no other conclusion, than that they 

 were refuse. 



Of the ornaments which have been manufactured out of this 

 material, we have access to many specimens, I have in my pos- 

 session, besides portions of armillae, several specimens of amulets, 

 or beads. "In the year 1839, excavations were made in the 

 cemetery of the Eomano-British settlement, at Dorchester ; and, 

 amongst the discoveries then made were several armilla? of the 

 Kimmeridge Coal, all of which had been evidently turned, highly 

 polished, and finished in a manner indicating an advanced state 

 of art. One was grooved and neatly notched by way of orna- 

 ment; the interior diameter of this ring was two inches and a 

 half. Others were polished, but not ornamented. One of these 

 rings to which I have alluded, was round the wrist of the skele- 

 ton of a female. At the same time were found two or three 

 amulets of the same material. These were nearly spherical, of 

 a flattened barrel shape, being an inch and a quarter in length, 

 and an inch in breadth. Associated with these relics, were all 

 the ordinary indicia of Romano-British interments, pottery, 

 precisely similar in description to that found at Kimmeridge and 

 Worbarrow, lu'ns of various descriptions, with coins of Hadrian, 

 Gratian, and others." These facts confirm the supposition that 

 Romano-British establishments were founded for the manufacture 

 of ornaments, amulets, beads, &c., out of the material called 

 Kimmeridge Coal, which, as also Kennel Coal, seems to be the 

 same as what the Romans designated by the name of gagates, or 

 jet; and which Solinus celebrates as found in great abundance 

 in Britain. In our own time, Kennel coal has been used in the 

 manufacture of ornaments, turned in the lathe. The ornaments 

 in jet, of the Romans in Britain, were also made on the lathe, 

 and consisted chiefly of rings, amulets, beads, buttons, &c. 

 Traces of the manufactories in one district have been dis- 

 covered. 



