110 ON SOME DIGGINGS NEAR BRASSINGTON, DERBYSHIRE. 



potsherds, broken bones, fragments of charcoal, burnt dunstone 

 and sandstone, a slag-like substance, several broken whetstones. 

 &c.) came from this dark soil ; the rest being found in the subsoil. 

 Around the upper end of our trench the surface was decidedly 

 smoother than elsewhere on this terrace. A small trench here, as 

 also others on this terrace, showed that the vegetable mould passed 

 into the subsoil at a less depth, and frequently a fragment of 

 pottery was turned up. The testimony of the spade, as well as the 

 mole-heaps, indicated these "finds" as practically confined to the 

 south-west parts of the hill. Our conclusion was that the dark 

 layer of the slope was a decomposed refuse, and that it pointed to 

 an ancient dwelling on the flat above, the smooth area being its 

 garth. What more natural than that its primitive occupants 

 should carry the daily refuse — ashes, broken pots, bones, &c. — 

 across the garth, or whatever the smooth area was, and tip them 

 over the rocks or down the slope? The process ceasing, the 

 accumulations would in due course become covered up with 

 a deposit of vegetable mould. But as one hut here is not com- 

 petent to account for the wide distribution of potsherds along the 

 side of the hill, we conclude that there were other dwellings ; in 

 other words, a small village. We now proceed to describe the 

 objects. 



The Pottery. — With the exception of one fragment of hard 

 wheel-m ide pottery found by Mr. C. Gregory in his earlier work, 

 the Harborough potsherds are imperfectly fired, and relate to 

 rude hand-made ware. The exact depth at which this solitary 

 wheel-made specimen was found is doubtful, so it is impossible 

 to say whether it is contemporary with the rest. Like another 

 fragment the writer noticed in the garden, it has a decidedly 

 Roman appearance. The yield of hand-made potsherds of the 

 slope was considerable, the rim-fragments alone representing from 

 45 to 50 different vessels : those of the other trenches and the 

 mole-heaps were too few and small to need further remark than 

 that they were of the same type. We may divide these Har- 

 borough potsherds into three classes, according to the character 

 of their paste ; and it is by no means unlikely that these point to 



