A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



times to the English people of the present day. Subsequent discoveries 

 in the same district gave almost identical results. In September 1849 

 John Yonge Akerman excavated three barrows of the Anglo-Saxon 

 period on the Downs between Firle Beacon and Litlington, and found a 

 perfect skeleton in each. The first was that of a boy about fourteen 

 years of age ; the second of a young man, and the third of a man of 

 advanced age. The perfect condition of the teeth was noticeable, though 

 those of the old man were much worn. The only objects discovered 

 were two knives of the usual pattern and presumably of iron, placed 

 with the second and third burials. Some years before the same investi- 

 gator had obtained similar results in the same locality, and concluded 

 that these were the graves of a population in quiet possession of the 

 district and of very primitive habits, in striking contrast to the discoveries 

 of many weapons and ornaments when Mailing Hill and others in the 

 neighbourhood of Lewes were levelled,' The locality well illustrated 

 the distinction between grave-mounds of the Anglo-Saxon and Bronze 

 periods, the former being on the brow of the hill overlooking some 

 hamlet evidently of Saxon origin, and the latter on the highest points of 

 the range, often out of sight of the inhabitants of the valley. Dr. 

 Davis described two skulls found on this occasion, not far from Firle 

 Beacon. They belonged to male adults of different ages, but both 

 exhibit the Anglo-Saxon characteristics in an eminent degree ; and it 

 may be mentioned that the elder showed signs of decay in the teeth, 

 a somewhat rare occurrence in skulls of this period. Like that 

 described above, these were considered typical skulls, the particular 

 oval form being regarded as an unquestionable indication of race. 

 The absence of grave-furniture and the east-and-west position are 

 both in favour of the view that all these were graves of Christian 

 converts. They would in that case be later than the mission of 

 Bishop Wilfrid (681-686) and before the transfer of burials to the 

 churchyards about the middle of the eighth century. 



In 1896 Rev. J. O. Bevan exhibited to the Anthropological 

 Institute' a knife found in January of that year with eight skeletons 

 during the erection of some fences in the parish of Alfriston, near 

 Berwick, Sussex. The discovery was made near the summit of a hill 

 overlooking the village. There were seven skeletons in a row, about 

 4 ft. apart, lying east and west (presumably with the head to the 

 west) and another about 21 ft. south-east of the easternmost. They 

 lay in the chalk, the mould being about 6 or 8 inches thick, the 

 stratum immediately on the bodies being a mixture of soil and 

 stones known locally as challice. In addition there was discovered a 

 small piece of jet or amber, with two holes drilled half through ; and a 

 small piece of glass, the upper edge being smooth and rounded. The 

 ground in the vicinity was tested, but no other remains were ascertain- 



' Ptoc. Soc. Antiq. 1st ser. ii. 47 ; Crania Britannica, pt. ii. plates 39, 40, and illustration o{ iron 

 knife in text. 



2 Journal, vol. xxvi. p. i ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. xvi. 92. 



