PAEISH OF EGLINGHAM. 419 



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

 ground. One of the side-stones had a sing-le 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 6^ 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, 2|- ft. long, 2^ ft. wide, and 1^ 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 ^i- in. and 1 in., and are made 

 of jet ; the others are thin flat disks of various sizes, from y\ in. to 

 y\ 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 If 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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