92 RELICS OF THE ROMAN OCCUPATION, LITTLE CHESTER, DERBY. 



Several pieces of bronze must be noticed. One is an irregular 

 piece of sheet bronze, hammered into a convex shape : it has been 

 suggested that it formed the boss or umbo of a shield. Another, 

 found by Mr. Williams with some of his pottery, is a curved thin 

 strip, ranging from ^ to fin. broad, and about 

 5iin. long. It has been a handle attached to 

 some vessel after the manner of that of a 

 modern bucket. The ornamentation is simple, 

 consisting of two borders of punched cres- 

 cents and a bead, as sketch given. 



In conclusion, it may be remarked that the 

 pottery found on the Manor House Farm was 

 i| • j)h associated with bones (chiefly of oxen), char- 



coal and blackish earth, forming a stratum 

 several feet below the surface, and above it 

 was a thin layer of gravel (a former path). 

 The former may have been the contents of 

 some Roman rubbish heap, laid down to 

 form a foundation for the gravel. 



Since the above went to the press, it has been suggested more 

 than once that the stone bearing the image of Mercury was a 

 boundary stone, and that the keel-like ridge marked the boundary 

 line. Hermes, the Greek equivalent of Mercury, was certainly 

 their god of boundaries, but he was replaced in this respect by 

 Terminus amongst the Romans. Boundary stones dedicated to 

 the latter god seem to have been common. Perhaps some readers 

 of this journal can throw light upon the matter. 



Reference has been made to the rockeries in Mr. Moltram's 

 garden. The stone of which they are constructed is from the 

 foundations of a very thick wall running down the side of the 

 garden. The well-constructed lower courses of the masonry of 

 this wall are exposed in a neighbouring cellar. Mr. Keys thinks 

 it is a portion of the Roman wall of Derventio. 



