SEPULCHRAL REMAINS IN BATH. 69 
steps from the Roman station. The marble chest perfectly 
fitted the corpse of the abbess ; a cavity provided in it 
for the skull, precisely fitted the head, and it seemed as if 
the coftin had been prepared specially for her. 
In the sepulchral remains found at Combe Down, we have 
an instance of the two modes of disposing of the dead 
which are known to have existed among the Romans, 
namely, by interment and by cremation. And this also 
leads me to suppose that the remains are to be attributed 
to the latter period of Roman occupation, or the times which 
immediately succeeded it. Wehave the body interred entire, 
placed in a coffin, and also no? placed in a coffin. "These two 
modes of sepulture were both common among the ancient 
Romans; and we have the small chest of burned bones, in 
which the ashes of the deceased were coliected after cre- 
mation, and deposited in the earth. This was likewise a 
Roman custom of disposing of the dead. Again, tlıe site 
of these remains leads to the supposition that they were 
Roman. In the country, we generally find the burial- 
places in the immediate neighbourhood of a villa or hamlet. 
As I observed before, the remains of a villa are to be traced 
in front of the spot where the coflins were found. 
The stone cist containing the burnt bones is certainly 
very remarkable. Sepulchral chests of this kind are fre- 
quently found on the site of Roman cemeteries ; and, 
according to Montfaucon, the number of square chests 
predominates over the round. Chests are also found which 
are made of tiles, and these are said to be more common 
in Roman burial places than stone chest. A remark- 
able stone one was found at Avisford, in Sussex, in 1817. 
Avisford is in the immediate neighbourhood of several 
large Roman villas, and not far from that of Bignor, where 
the very interesting pavements are still preserved. It ap- 
