416 



NORTHUMBERLAND. 



bones was a flint knife, unburnt, of a square form, roughly made 

 from a short and broad flake, two of the edges being chipped to give 

 it the requisite sharpness ; it is If in. long and 1 in. wide. Below 

 the slab upon which the urn was placed was a cist ; it was sunk to 

 a depth of two feet below the natural surface, the cover being upon 

 the level of the ground. It consisted of four sandstone slabs set on 

 edge, and had a direction east and west, being 3 ft. 3J in. long and 

 2 ft. 3f in. wide ; the cover was 4 ft. 4 in. long, 3 ft. 4 in. wide, and 

 10 in. thick. The body contained within it, of which but a very few 



Fig. 158. A. 



traces were visible, had been placed upon a thin layer of small 

 gravel and then covered over with fine sand, amongst which was a 

 good deal of charcoal interspersed ; the sand rose to within a foot of 

 the top of the cist. The body had apparently been laid on the 

 right side, with the head to E. and touching the east end of the 

 cist ; before the face, if the body had been placed on the right side, 

 was a ' drinking cup,' deposited upright in the north-east corner 

 [fig. 158]. It is 5J in. high, 5 in. wide at the mouth, and 3 in. at 

 the bottom, where it widens a little. The ornamentation is due to 

 the impression of a notched piece of bone or wood. On the bottom 

 of the cairn, at the south side of the cist-cover, was a flat piece of 



