PARISH OF EGLINGHAM. 419 



a cover, the upper surface of which was level with that of the 

 ground. One of the side- stones had a single small stone set upon 

 it, and another had several, in order to make the two sides up to 

 the required height. The cist was 3 ft. 4 in. long, 1 ft. 10. in. wide, 

 and the same in depth. On the bottom was placed a layer of sand 

 about 4 in. in thickness, almost covered by which and lying on its 

 side at the north corner was a 'food vessel,' the mouth being 

 turned towards the centre of the cist. There was not the slightest 

 trace of bone to be seen ; but a few pieces of charcoal were found 

 amongst the sand. The vase is in shape and ornamentation like 

 fig. 161, but narrower proportionately to its height, and is 6f in. 

 high, 6 in. wide at the mouth, and 3 in. at the bottom ; it is en- 

 tirely covered (including the inside of the lip), except for an inch and 

 a-half at the bottom, with encircling bands of lines arranged herring- 

 bone fashion, and produced by the application of a sharp-pointed 

 instrument. Three feet west of this last was another cist, also placed 

 north-west and south-east, 2J ft. long, 2% ft. wide, and 1 J ft. deep. 

 It had two side-stones, and a short one only at the north-west end. 

 The cover-stone had probably been removed at some former time. 

 On the bottom was a deposit of about 6 in. of sand, amongst which, 

 at the north corner, was found a necklace of beads [fig. 159], more 

 than a hundred of which were obtained. Ten of them are cylindrical 

 in shape, varying in length between in. and 1 in., and are made 

 of jet ; the others are thin flat disks of various sizes, from T 3 F in. to 

 T \ in. in diameter, and are made of shale. They had been arranged 

 in successive series of ten round beads, then a long one, then ten 

 round ones again, and so on. Near the middle of the cist, amongst 

 the sand, was a flint knife carefully chipped along both edges ; it 

 is now 1 J in. long and f in. wide, but has had a piece broken off 

 the smaller end, the fracture having occurred before it was 

 placed in the grave. Again, in this case, no remains whatever of 

 the body were found. At a distance of 12f ft. from the centre, and 

 to the north-west of it, was a third cist, lying north-east and 

 south-west, 2ft. 4 in. long, 1 ft. 5 in. wide, and the same in depth; 

 it was formed of four side-stones and a cover. There was a layer 

 of sand 6 in. deep on the bottom, but it contained nothing beyond 

 a few pieces of charcoal. It will be remarked that in none of these 

 three cists was any trace of bone detected : the burials had been of 

 unburnt bodies which had all undergone complete decomposition. 



Several other mounds in the same neighbourhood, all of them of 

 a class of which a large number have been opened by me in different 



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