ON THE BIIITISH ANTIQUITIES OF WARWICKSHIRE. 193 



found fibula? or brooches, used for fastening the garments, and these 

 were both of the cross-shaped and circular kind, differing, however, 

 in fashion from the common bow-shaped Roman fibula ; also, 

 clasps, rings, tweezers, and other ornaments and articles appertain- 

 ing to females : the greater part of them were of brass, though 

 some few were of silver. With these were, also, beads of amber, 

 glass, and vitrified earth, variously coloured and shaped. One fu- 

 neral urn only was discovered, which was found unfortunately 

 crushed to pieces ; this was well burnt, had evidently been turned 

 by a lathe, and was much ornamented ; it contained ashes concreted 

 together in a lump ; close to the urn lay an iron sword, the only 

 one discovered at this place, and on the mouth of the urn was a 

 spear-head of iron, distinguished from the rest by having a narrow 

 rim of brass round the socket. Several half-burnt drinking-cups, 

 containing about half a pint each, were also dug up, but these, with 

 a single exception, were so friable that they crumbled to pieces, or 

 were broken by the pickaxe and spade. 



That these remains were deposited in time of peace, and probably 

 during a long succession of years, is evident from the order and re-^ 

 gularity in which they lay, the length of road on which they were 

 buried, and from the ornaments found disposed with the skeletons 

 of females and children ; from a comparison of these articles 

 with arms and ornaments of a similar description elsewhere disco- 

 vered, I am inclined to attribute them to the fourth or fifth century 

 of the Christian era. 



There is great difficulty in discriminating clearly between the 

 funeral remains of the later Britons and those of the early Saxons, 

 before their conversion to Christianity ; for the same custom of in- 

 terring the dead with instruments of warfare and in their choicest 

 apparel, prevailed equally with both, and perhaps some of those 

 relics which we attribute to the later Britons may have belonged to 

 the early Saxons. 



An interment of this kind has been discovered, within the last 

 few months, in Ragley Park, near Alcester, and not far from the 

 fortification called Danes Bank, where the skeleton of a female was 

 found, with several personal decorations, consisting of a fibula or 

 brooch, highly gilt and engraved, nearly seven inches long, and one 

 of the largest and most richly ornamented that has ever been disco- 

 vered in this kingdom ; two fibulse of a smaller and more common 

 shape, but still richly ornamented, though not gilt, were also found 

 in the same spot, together with the blade of a knife, which lay 

 close to the ribs, several beads of amber and jet, the remains of a 



VOL. IV. NO. XVI. N 



