182 REPORT ON THE STAPENHILL EXPLORATIONS. 
and, judging from the great numbers of them which have been 
found in these counties compared with the other forms, they 
would appear to have been peculiar to the various tribes of 
Angles or English who peopled these parts. 
These fibulz occur in varying dimensions, from 4 to 10 inches 
in length, and are of different devices, in gold, or bronze gilt 
over ; they were used to fasten up the drapery of the outer gown 
or mantle, and are usually found on the chest, or sometimes* on 
the shoulder ; sometimes, though not often, occurring in pairs, as 
at Stapenhill and Stowting, or even in threes, as at Little 
Wilbraham. In such cases they denote the burial of women of 
wealth and position. 
Buckles, either of bronze or iron, are found near the waist, and, 
as may be inferred from their position, served to secure the belt 
from which was suspended the chatelaine and trinkets, or, in the 
case of men, the sword or dagger. Finger-rings are not of 
common occurrence, neither are ear-rings. Bronze pins, both 
plain and ornamented, are frequently found; but perhaps the 
most numerous of any kinds of personal ornament met with in 
the graves of Anglo-Saxon women and children are beads, in an 
almost endless variety of form and from every part of the then 
known world. For instance, at Stapenhill were found many 
beads of blue and other coloured glass so characteristic of Roman 
manufacture; others of Grecian, or possibly Egyptian origin, 
lying side by side with those of purely Saxon workmanship. 
These latter are generally of terra-cotta, containing a large pro- 
portion of coloured earth in their composition, so that the 
resulting beads were quite opaque, possessing little or none of 
that vitreous appearance so peculiar to those of the RKomans, 
and resembling earthenware rather than glass ; beads of amethys- 
tine quartz, as well as garnets pierced with holes, have been 
found, also amber beads. The amber is uniformly of the red 
transparent kind, such as was most highly valued at Rome, never 
of the pale or honey-coloured variety. It is to be found at the 
present time in the cliffs or on the shore at Cromer and 
Holderness, and even as far north as Aberdeen, and _ its 
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