]84 



DRIFFIELD. 



A large number of weapons and ornaments and several 

 skeletons were found in this mound by accident, in 1848. 

 Many of the former are now in the Museum of the York- 

 shire Philosophical Society, and have been described by 

 Mr. Wellbeloved, in the Journal of the British Archaeological 

 Association, vol. 7, for 1846. The remaining part of the 

 tumulus was examined by the Yorkshire Antiquarian Club, in 

 August, 1849, and was less rich in sepulchral deposits than the 

 portion removed. At the north side was found a skeleton of 

 large stature with feet to the east ; stretched across the body 

 ' was a large iron knife, the blade of which is above 8 inches 

 long. Near the shoulder were two iron spear heads, 14 and 8 

 inches in length, with the points upwards. The second skeleton 

 had probably been interred with the preceding, and was that of 

 a female, placed in a half sitting posture, with the skull raised 

 and face to the east. Around the neck were five beads, a large 

 one of amber, and four smaller cylindrical ones of baked clay or 

 vitrified paste of a bronze red colour marked in striae ; they were 

 of exquisite manufacture, displaying great ingenuity and no 

 mean amount of art. By the left leg was found a round iron 

 spike, which had probably formed the lower end of the shaft of 

 a spear, the head of which was found near the shoulder of the 

 first skeleton. In No. 3, was a female skeleton, with the head 

 to the north. On the neck was a necklace of beads of amber, 

 glass, and vitrified paste, there being not fewer than from 40 to 

 60, of various sizes. Near each shoulder was a small fibula, in 

 the form of a flat ring in bronze, about 2 inches in diameter, 

 and but slightly ornamented, and around each wrist an amulet 

 of small glass and amber beads. On each side, above each knee, 

 was a small iron knife with remains of a wooden handle, and 

 adjoining some rings and pieces of iron. What this article had 

 been is uncertain ; it is not improbable that it was the remains 

 of a horse's bit. Other small articles of bronze, probably fasten- 

 ings of the dress, were also found. Two beads of rock crystal, 

 neatly drilled, were among the spoils of this Anglo-Saxon 

 burial place. ^ 



