ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



Such have frequently been found in the Anglian district." The urn and con- 

 tents now in the British Museum have been illustrated by Akerman," and 

 are of more than ordinary interest. The cinerary vessel is a typical one 

 about 9 in. high, with vertical ribs round the shoulder flanked by pairs of in- 

 cised lines ; and besides the calcined bones it contained a bone comb 3§ in. 

 long with triangular handle ornamented with concentric circles ; a pair of 

 shears, measuring 2| in., of an ordinary pattern, probably used by the housewife; 

 a pair of tweezers 2 in. long, such as are frequent in cinerary urns ; and a 

 curved iron knife with looped handle, 3i in. in total length, that cannot have 

 been very serviceable. 



Some specimens have actually been found with blunt edges '' that have 

 obviously never been used for cutting, and it is permissible to see in these 

 articles the make-believe furniture supplied by undertakers of all periods. 

 They are smaller than those generally found with unburnt Anglo-Saxon burials, 

 and different in form,'* while their inclusion in the cinerary urn seems to be 

 exceptional. The comb and tweezers are, however, often found with the ashes 

 both here and in Germany, and Kemble has drawn attention to the similarity 

 of the funeral rites in the two areas.*" 



What is described as a Roman urn was found with many others in 1849 

 during the construction of the Eastern Union Railway at Finningham ;" but 

 as spear-heads of iron and ' ornaments of brass ' (obviously bronze brooches) 

 were found at the same time, it is fairly evident that a mixed Anglo-Saxon 

 cemetery once existed here, the numerous urns pointing to cremation, and the 

 weapons and ornaments to unburnt burials. In 1858 the Rev. Greville 

 Chester exhibited in London *^ portions of Anglo-Saxon brooches from this 

 site : one was said to resemble that in the possession of Sir William Lawson 

 found near Catterick Bridge, N.R. Yorks; " and the other had a more elaborate 

 ornament, but is not further described. 



Another prolific area in Suffolk is that situated between the valleys 

 of the Lark and Little Ouse, including a considerable proportion of fen. It 

 was not on the sandy high ground that the Anglo-Saxons settled, but as usual 

 in the river valleys, and there were evidently many settlements along the 

 Upper Ouse River which flows into the Little Ouse near Euston Park. 



In the Ipswich Museum is a fine specimen of the Anglian cinerary urn 

 {pi. iii, fig. i), from Fakenham Heath. It is, as usual, made without the 

 potter's wheel, and is black above the shoulder and a yellowish-grey below. 

 The ware is of the ordinary quality, and the shoulder is ornamented with 

 vertical and sloping ribs, the latter fringed with impressions from a stamp 

 with a cross within a circle. It is 7 in. in height, and was evidently intended 

 to contain the ashes of the dead, while its well-formed foot distinguishes it 

 from the majority of Anglo-Saxon urns. 



" f.C.H. Nor/, i, 335 ; they are sometimes called 'pulley-beads.' 



"Pagan Saxondom, pi. xxii ; Kemble and Franks, Horae Ferales^ pi. xxx, fig. 14. 



'* Near Lewes and at Kempston, Beds. ; another from an urn at Long Wittenham, Berks, is figured in 

 jlrch. xxxviii, 342. 



"A large specimen of same type from Denm.irk ; S. Muller, Ordning afDanmarh Oldsager, ii (Jernllderen), 

 fg. 124. 



*" Horae Feraies, 225, pi. xxx ; jlrch. xxxvi, 275. 



" Bury and W. Suff. Proc. i, 60 ; ii, 1 18. "Arch. Journ. xv, 165. 



"Arch. Joum. vi, 216, where two are figured, that from Thornbrough being the more likely parallel, as 

 it closely resembles some found at Ipswich (pi. ii, fig. 4). 



335 



