Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Harnham. 205 
been attached, is of course easily explained by the circumstance 
that the Anglo-Saxons were buried not in grave-clothes, but “in 
their habit as they lived: the man with his arms and accoutre- 
ments, especially the long sword and shield; the woman with her 
finery (not her best we would hope), and the articles of her toilette. 
The girdle ornament (Fig. 4), found with skeleton No. 28, is a 
novelty. It appeared to have been stamped from a die: and when 
first brought to light, the gilding was as bright as when it was 
new. Another kind of fastening for a belt was similar to one 
recently adopted in France for parasols and umbrellas. 
The steel for striking a light has been found in gravesin Lapland 
and Germany : and is accounted for by a superstitious belief, that the 
presence of fire would keep away evil spirits. The sheep’s knuckle- 
bone had probably been an equally efficient preservative against 
the convulsions to which the unhappy proprietor of the bones 
No. 28 had been subject.1 
With respect to the date of these interments, Mr. Akerman is of 
opinion that it is to be fixed at some point between the latter part 
of the fifth century (the first settlement of the Saxons in this 
district) : and the middle of the seventh; (when they. were con- 
verted to Christianity). 
prematurely interrupted in his favourite exercise: for upon the anatomical 
examination of the skeleton by whose side the knife and fork were found, the 
molar teeth appeared to be ‘rather less worn” than those of many of his 
companions. 
1 In Anglo-Saxon interments, a single bucket-shaped wooden vessel has been 
occasionally discovered of which we find no instance hitherto at Harnham. At 
first it was supposed to be the remains of a headpiece or crown: but further 
examinations have rather shown it to be a substitute for the Roman urn. In 
the neighbourhood of Marlborough one of these was found, as recorded by Sir 
R. C. Hoare. [‘‘ Ancient Wilts,” vol. 11., p. 34, pl. v1.] It was made of sub- 
stantial oak, plated with thin brass, ribbed with iron hoops, had two iron 
handles, one at each side, and a hollow bar of iron placed across the mouth, 
and affixed to two pieces projecting above the upper rim of the vessel. The 
surface was curiously ornamented with grotesque human heads, animals, &c., 
embossed in the metal plating. The dimensions were, height 21 inches, 
diameter 24 inches. It contained a deposit of burned human bones. [See Arch, 
Journal, 1851, p. 176). 
