ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



ground, and their presence was indicated by slight hillocks seldom rising 

 2 feet from the ground and resembling those to be seen in village 

 churchyards at the present day. 



In every instance the skeletons were found extended at full length, 

 with the heads placed towards the west and the arms close to the sides. 

 No traces of cremation or of any kind of funeral pottery were met with, 

 and the bones and teeth with very few exceptions were perfectly sound 

 and in their proper positions. 



In one group were found a grave containing two skeletons placed 

 so close together that the skulls were almost touching, but no traces of 

 weapons or ornaments were found with them. Another burial yielded 

 two small silver pins * placed near the skull and no doubt used for fasten- 

 ing the hair. They have a slight swelling in the middle, the head 

 being formed of a small coil of silver wire through which the pin 

 passed and to which it was fastened by hammering. A knife 1 of the 

 common type and a bronze-mounted bucket devoid of any ornament 

 were also found, the latter placed near the head of what was probably 

 the skeleton of a woman. 



The southern group was on higher ground, and in the first grave 

 opened a small gold pendant l was found lying near the skull. This had 

 probably been suspended from the neck, and consisted of a thin disc of 

 gold with a ring welded round the edge and a small loop for attachment. 

 On one face is an equal-armed cross inclosed in a circle, both formed by 

 a series of slight indentations, in some of which the remains of some 

 kind of paste or enamel could be seen by the aid of a microscope. The 

 reverse is plain, and the trinket seems to have been much worn by use. 



A very similar specimen is preserved in the Gibbs collection of 

 antiquities from Faversham, now deposited in the British Museum. 

 The cross is composed of a number of twisted gold threads applied to 

 the surface and coiled into a boss at the centre. The spaces between 

 the arms of the cross are covered with punched holes, but though in 

 excellent preservation the face preserves no traces of enamel or other 

 filling. In the same room is exhibited a simpler specimen found at 

 Wye Down, Kent. 



Another grave contained objects of remarkable interest, the skeleton 

 being that of a man who was credited with a stature of nearly 6| feet. 

 Lying across the breast and reaching from the right shoulder to the left 

 knee was a sword of iron 38 inches long and 2 inches wide, of con- 

 siderable thickness, though this may be accounted for by supposing the 

 remains of the scabbard to have been fixed to the oxidized blade, and 

 the measure of its length just given no doubt included the tang, which 

 was 5 inches long and passed through the handle which was probably 

 of wood. In the same grave was the iron boss 1 of a shield placed 

 over the right foot of the skeleton. It is 7 inches high with a diameter 

 of 5 inches at the base, and is minutely described by Mr. Flower, 

 who found the grip or the metal part of it immediately below the 



1 Figured in the original account of the excavations. 

 265 



