82 INTRODUCTION. 



opinion which regards them as lamps are very strong-. It is 

 quite possible that a light may have formed part of the cere- 

 monial attendant upon the interment of the dead, but as ' incense 

 cups' are accompaniments of burials after cremation, their appli- 

 cation in the capacity of a lamp appears to be supererogatory. The 

 nature of the vessels themselves seems to preclude the idea that 

 they could ever have answered any such purpose. The occurrence 

 of ornament upon the bottom, which is found at that part much 

 more frequently upon them than upon any other of the sepulchral 

 vessels, affords a presumption that they were meant to be seen 

 from below, and may seem to favour the theory that they were 

 lamps, but it can only be regarded as corroborative evidence at 

 the most. The circumstance that they are frequently perforated, 

 as if for suspension, has also been urged in support of their having 

 been used as lamps, but the perforations occur as often close to 

 the bottom or near the middle as at the top, and therefore 

 cannot be considered as made for that exclusive purpose. The 

 fact that these perforations consist not only of two or of four, 

 placed in pairs opposite each other, but sometimes of a large 

 number over the whole of the sides of the vessel, makes their 

 intention as a means of suspension more than problematical. 

 It seems impossible to separate these smaller perforations from 

 the larger piercings which, as has already been stated, occur in 

 some of the ' incense cups.' Nor could a lamp have holes close 

 to or in the bottom, for its very nature entails upon it the 

 necessity of preserving the oil from being wasted; a require- 

 ment which surely could never be answered by a vessel with 

 a bottom like a cullender. One of the strongest objections, 

 however, to their having been so used appears to be this, that 

 there has never been found upon them any appearance of their 

 having served for such a purpose. It could not be expected, 

 indeed, that the wick should have remained after so many cen- 

 turies of exposure to various disintegrating influences ; but the 

 marks of the smoke from it would have been found, just as they 

 are still seen upon the Roman lamps of earthenware. 



That they were intended to contain some especial part of the 

 body is in itself so unlikely, and has so little beyond mere 



to place upon the breast of the corpse a small cup containing some powerful perfume, 

 whereby the disgusting and insalubrious stench might be remedied.' Mr. Way, how- 

 ever, pertinently adds, 'whence were perfumes or unguents to be procured in the 

 neolithic or later stone age, to which the vessels under consideration appear mostly to 

 belong.' 1. e. p. 72. 



