ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



runs nearly north and south), and the graves had been cut through the 

 gravel and rubbish of which the road was made to the rock which lies 

 about two feet below the present surface. The workmen who made the 

 discovery agreed in stating that two spears were deposited with each body ; 

 these varied in length from eight to sixteen inches, and were composed 

 as usual of iron. It is probable that other remains, such as shield-bosses 

 and handles, escaped observation, but a ' third-brass ' coin of Carausius 

 (286-293) was found which serves to date the burials at any rate in one 

 direction. It is hardly possible that interments in the centre of the 

 highway were permitted in Roman times, and it is therefore reasonable 

 to refer these and another group found in the middle of the Watling Street, 

 near Bensford Bridge, 1 to the fifth century, if not to the sixth of our era. 



Another group of burials that cannot be dated in the same manner, 

 but had evidently some relation to the same great highway, was discovered 

 half a century ago at Norton, near Daventry, Northants. 8 A bank forty or 

 fifty yards long and about three feet high ran parallel to, and just beyond, 

 the Roman embankment, being about twenty-five feet from the crown of 

 the road ; and several bodies, buried in a line, were found about six feet 

 below that level. A fine square-headed brooch s was found on a subse- 

 quent occasion when the bank was levelled to alter the course of the road. 



In January, 1893, Mr. F. Pritchatt, while opening a new gravel- 

 pit in the Barnfield, Aslockton, came upon the remains of a warrior, 

 lying buried with his feet to the west, at a depth of 3^ ft. from the 

 surface. A straight two-edged sword, with a blade 29 in. long and 2 in. 

 wide, was found at the right of the body, pointing north-west, and a 

 lance-head, with a blade of 3 in. and a socket J in. shorter, lay near the 

 left foot. Other bones have been turned up on the site, and a bed of 

 gravel was a favourite position for an Anglo-Saxon burial-ground ; while 

 it is pointed out in the original account 4 that the orientation was not in 

 accordance with Christian usage. It may also be added that the reversed 

 spear is of rare occurrence in graves of the period in England, 6 though 

 apparently the rule among the Ripuarian Franks. 6 From measurements of 

 some of the bones it is evident that the stature of the living subject was about 

 five feet four inches, which is not by any means excessive for a warrior. 



VIKING SWORD, FROM FARNDON CHURCH ( ). 



Another sword (see fig.), of the Viking pattern, was found during 

 excavations below Farndon church, and was preserved in the vestry there. 7 



1 V. C. H. Warm, i, 253. ' V. C.H. Nortbants, i, 234 ; see also 236 (Passenham). 



* Arch, xli, pi. xxii, p. 479. 



4 Scarrington and Aslockton Parish Magazine, March, 1893 : the relics are in the possession of Capt. 

 Montagu Hall, ofWhatton Manor, who kindly furnished the account. Reproduced in Notts, and Derb. 

 Notes ana" Queries, 1893, p. 107 ; the skull is said to be brachycephalic, ibid. p. 122. 



5 Long Wittenham, Berks., with stoup bearing biblical scenes, Arch, xxxviii, 345. 



6 Proc. Soe. Antiq. Lond. iii, 34 : for an example see Boulanger's MoblRer funlraire Gallo-romain et 

 Franc, pi. 36. 'Cornelius Brown, Hist, of Newark (1904), i, 8. 



197 



