PARISH OF RUDSTONE. 269 



There can be no doubt that the ring-, with the perforations on the 

 side, was used in some way for fastening the dress ; rings of this 

 kind have so constantly been found together with buttons that they 

 can scarcely be separated from them when their original purpose is 

 considered. The manner of use is however not so easy of expla- 

 nation, though it is possible that a thong being fixed on .each side 

 of a garment which was open in front, one of them may have been 

 passed through one of the perforations, whilst the opposite thong 

 was passed through the other, the two thongs being then tied, and 

 leaving the ring to hang in front of the dress, serving, like a modern 

 brooch, equally for use and ornament. 



LXIX. The last barrow of the group which was opened, being 

 the last but one towards the east, was situated about mile east- 

 by-south from that just described. It was 60 ft. in diameter, 3^ ft. 

 high, and was composed entirely of earth. It contained two inter- 

 ments at the centre, those of an unburnt and a burnt body. The 

 former (the only instance in my experience except three, where the 

 all but universal rule of contracting the body was departed from) 

 was laid in a shallow grave, west-south-west by east-north-east, 

 6J ft. long and 3 ft. wide ; at the east end it was 1 J ft. deep, and it 

 decreased gradually in depth until at the west end, where the head 

 was placed, it rose to the level of the original surface. The body 

 deposited in it was that of a young man about 25 years of age, 

 who was laid on his back and at full length, the head being a little 

 brought forward on to the chest, and the hands up to each side 

 of the head. On the left side, in contact with the body, and 

 extending from 6 in. above to the same distance below the knees, 

 were the bones of the burnt body of an adult male. At the right 

 hip was a ' food vessel,' and on the left side, between the arm and 

 the chest, was a flint knife. The vase is, though more rudely made, 

 in shape much like fig. 70, but has four unpierced ears. It is 4J in. 

 high, 6 in. wide at the mouth, and 3J in. at the bottom. It is 

 entirely covered with ornament, including the inside of the lip 



seem to have been the coating of wooden buttons, having a cross engraved on each, 

 in a barrow in Wiltshire, associated with a small bronze knife-dagger and a ' drink- 

 ing cup,' accompanying an unburnt body. Ancient Wilts, vol. i. p. 99, pi. x, xi. 



In all these cases where this figure has been found upon buttons I am inclined to 

 consider it as being purely decorative, though it has been used extensively, and in 

 many countries and at different times, as a religious symbol. The subject of the use 

 of the cross in early times is very fully treated by G. de Mortillet, ' Le signe de la 

 Croix avant le Christianisme,' and in an article ' On the Pre-Christian Cross,' in the 

 Edinburgh Review, vol. cxxxi. p. 222. 



