A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



distances small masses of iron encrusted with sand and entirely rusted. A 

 few days later these iron bolts were traced throughout the length of the 

 trench, and found to belong to a timber framing. On either side there were 

 six rows exactly corresponding, and indicating the ribs of a clinker-built boat 

 (fig. 3) that had fallen into decay, those at the side being horizontal, and four 

 or five rows at the bottom vertical, the boat being of the section shown in the 

 diagram (fig. 4). The two ends of the boat were distinctly traced, and its 



original length, estimated at 46 ft. or 48 ft., 

 the width amidships being about 10 ft. and 

 height about 4 ft. The woodwork at the 

 bottom, though quite rotten, showed clearly 

 the method of construction, and the outline 

 argued considerable skill and knowledge of 

 „ ' ^ " ^ ship-buildine. As the ring, hair, and glass 



Fig. 4. — Lnois-sECTioN of boat in r o _ _ i -jji i- r 



Grave-mound, Snape were found precisely in the middle hne of 



the boat (according to one account at the 

 end), there can be little question as to the approximate period of its 

 construction and burial, though parallel instances, at least in this country, 

 are not easily found. 



In July 1863 a further account of excavations on this site was furnished 

 to the Archaeological Institute ' by Mr. F. Francis, who was indebted to an 

 eye-witness for his facts and sketches. Stimulated by his success in 1862, 

 Mr. Davidson had directed his field adjoining the road to be trenched from 

 east to west i 2 yds. wide. By this means the whole circumference of the 

 largest tumulus was included, and more than forty vases were exhumed, mostly 

 in fragments. The majority of these were found in the level between the 

 two large mounds, much outside the extreme base of either ; and as this 

 wide interval, singularly bare of furze, was rather depressed than otherwise, 

 it is unlikely that earth had ever been heaped over them. No urn was 

 discovered at a greater distance north or south than about 10 yds., and 

 most were within a short distance of the hedge on the south. All were 

 found about i ft. below the surface, and in most instances were brought to 

 light on the removal of the first sod. The mould was, as elsewhere, black 

 and greasy, and in this many of the urns had altogether collapsed. An 

 examination of some of the bones showed that the process of cremation was 

 incomplete, and fragments were noticed that testified to more than ordinary 

 stature. No arrangement could be traced in the deposit of the urns, some 

 being at considerable intervals and others close together. They varied much 

 in profile and decoration, as well as in the quality and thickness of the ware, 

 but all contained incinerated bones. The only relics found were two small 

 pieces of what was considered ivory in a serrated metal mount, with remains of 

 a rivet in the centre ; part of a convex copper plate having the appearance 

 of part of a helmet ; an oblong copper ring, evidently part of a buckle ; an iron 

 spear-head 10 in. long, 'joined in the centre by a rivet'; a round bead of 

 bone, and fragments of fused glass. All these items were from the smaller 

 urns, the larger yielding nothing but bones. This then was doubtless the 

 urn-field or cemetery of a community living on the bank of the Aide, who 

 utilized a burying-place already a thousand years old, and raised a mound 



' jircA. Joum. n, 373. 

 328 



