384 



WESTMORELAND. 



probably a portion of a pin. Lying above them, and on the north 

 side, was an ' incense cup/ It is somewhat decayed at the top, so 

 that the size cannot be exactly determined, but it has probably 

 been about 2 in. high. There is still left one perforation, placed a 

 little above the middle of the vessel, and it may once have had 

 a second. The whole surface is covered with a somewhat irregular 

 pattern, the lower part being apparently a zigzag encircling line, 

 formed by punctures or dots made with a sharp-pointed tool. The 

 bottom, If in. in diameter, is also ornamented with a reticulated 

 design of delicately-twisted thong-impressions. 



CLXX. Upon a hill called Wiseber, about 1 \ mile to the south 

 of the village of Kirby Stephen, and in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of all the barrows just described, though standing quite apart 

 from any other mound, was one 28ft. in diameter, 1J ft. high, and 

 made up of stones and earth. It had originally been higher, a part 

 having been removed for the purpose of obtaining stones for 

 walling. On examination it proved to be of quite a different 

 character from those hitherto noticed, and presented features of 

 unusual occurrence in burial mounds. At the centre, in a hollow 

 sunk 2J ft. below the natural surface, was placed a sort of wooden 

 coffin, lying north-west and south-east. It was 6ft. long, 2J ft. 

 wide at the north-west end, and If ft. at the other; and at a point 

 3Jft. from the wider end there were two circular holes, 2 in. in 

 diameter and 2 in. apart, pierced through it. The coffin, if so it 

 may be termed, was a good deal decayed. It appeared to have been 

 made out of a thick slab of wood slightly hollowed. Across the 

 north-west end was placed a short plank, and two others, each 

 2^ ft. long, were laid on either side at that end, thus making the 

 coffin at this part, where no doubt the head of the body had once 

 been, rather deeper than it was elsewhere. There was no cover to 

 it. Where the head must have been, if placed in the direction 

 above indicated, were the remains of a small and shallow bronze 

 bowl made of very thin metal, but so much destroyed by oxidation 

 that it is impossible to restore its shape. About the position the 

 chest would have occupied a single glass bead was discovered ; it is 

 of a bluish colour, thickly splashed over with red and yellow. The 

 cutting in which the coffin was deposited appeared to have been 

 made through an existing deposit of burnt bones, some of them 

 being found on the south-west side rather above and close to 

 the coffin, whilst some were beneath its edge ; in immediate 



