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there. Their commonest shape is that of two truncated cones, 

 inverted one upon the other, so that the mouth is rather contracted, 

 and the upper cone, by overlapping the other, forms a deep rim 

 by which some think it is intended to be Hfted. This overhanging 

 rim is the chief mark of the cinerary urns ; and it is probable that 

 when the jar was full, a piece of skin or of cloth was placed over the 

 mouth, and tied by a cord or withy under the overhanging rim. 

 In fact, its use is the same as that of the groove round the top of 

 a jam pot, only, the string or withy then used, would be much 

 coarser than that now used by ladies in securing their preserves. 

 Occasionally the urns have handles ; for I doubt if the rim 

 would serve to lift them by without breaking. 



The ornamentation of these vessels is worth attention : it is the 

 very earliest dawn of art. Our present art has no connection with 

 the ivory carvings of the cave-men, but is to be traced from this 

 pottery. The ornamentation of these vessels has never been found 

 to exhibit any representation of either animal or vegetable life. It 

 consists principally of combinations of straight lines in an almost 

 inconceivable variety. The finger nails have frequently been the 

 only tools employed ; at other times a piece of hard wood or of 

 bone has been used, sometimes just a simple point, at other times 

 notched, or cut into alternately sunk and raised squares. Most 

 frequently a twisted thong has been used, sometimes of leather, 

 sometimes of some vegetable fibre, with two or three plaits. Curved 

 lines and circular marks occur, but the patterns are generally made 

 up of straight lines arranged in cross, zig-zag, chevron, saltire, 

 reticulated, and herring-bone fashion. 



2. The second class is that of the incense cups. They 

 are very small vessels, from an inch to three inches high, 

 and from one inch to four in diameter. They are of very 

 various shapes, and frequently have holes in them, sometimes 

 as many as twenty-seven. They are generally of finer clay and 

 more ornamented than the cinerary urns. They are only found 

 with burnt bodies, and sometimes inside the cinerary urns. They 

 were first called "incense cups" by Sir Richard Colt Hoare j but 



