342 Excavations in Wansdyhke, 1889—91. 
miles, but they may nevertheless represent successive efforts of the 
Britons during the same troubled period. The Britons must doubtless 
have learnt the Roman methods of castrametation and defence, and 
the resemblance of the Wansdyke in the general principle of its 
construction, to the walls of Hadrian and Antoninus, should not be 
overlooked. ‘Lastly, we must bear in mind that there is nothing in 
our evidence to disprove the supposition that both these works may 
have been thrown up by the Saxons. During the seventh and 
eighth centuries the wars between the West Saxons and the Mercians 
were continued up to the time of Offa. The great work drawn 
along the frontier of Wales, to keep the people of that country in 
check, is attributed to Offa, and it is not impossible that the Wans- 
dyke may, in like manner, have been thrown up by the West Saxons 
as a defence against him. The frontier between Wessex and Mercia 
appears constantly to have been shifting, but the line of the 
Wansdyke represents more or less, the ordinary boundary that 
existed between the two tribes. It is true that nothing Saxon has 
as yet been discovered to support this hypothesis. But our evidence, 
from the nature of it, fixes only the earliest, and not the latest, 
period at which these works may have been constructed. I have no 
doubt that further excavations will serve to throw more light upon 
the subject. Meanwhile, I hope I have been able to show how 
much really valuable information may be brought to light by the 
examination of these and similar entrenchments. This kind of 
investigation has hitherto been much neglected in England, whilst 
money has been lavished in the search for antiquities abroad. Anti- 
quaries no doubt generally expect to be repaid for their expenditure 
by enriching their collections with objects of greater value than are 
to be found in dykes and ditches. But, in my judgment, a fragment 
of pottery, if it throws light on the history of our own country and 
people, is of more interest to the scientific collector of evidence in 
England, than even a work of art and merit that is associated only 
with races that we are remotely connected with. 
ee ates ee ere 
