ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



The accompanying illustration (fig. 2) renders a description of the shape 

 unnecessary, but something must be said with regard to the remarkable 

 inscription in Greek capitals below the lip. The letters, like the frieze 

 of hare and hounds below, were lightly cut by means of the wheel, and 

 are evidently a rendering of the common Latin phrase utere felix, an 

 explanation first suggested by Mr. Haverfield. The Greek phrase, with 

 a feminine participle, has indeed been found on a small gold hairpin in 

 France,' and it may be regarded as a wish that good health may attend 

 the use of the phial. Mr. Read points out that, while the Greek 

 inscription suggests the south of Europe, Byzantium itself may well 

 have been the place of origin, for such an artistic and valuable object 

 could hardly have been produced in the Teutonic north at that time. 

 While similar hunting scenes occur on a number of vases dating from 

 late Roman times, the shape of the vessel is neither Roman nor Saxon, 

 and there can be little doubt that the phial was imported, not perhaps 

 in the ordinary course of trade, but possibly by some warrior who had 

 shared the plunder of a highly civilized community. 



Nothing further was found in the grave, at the west end of which 

 the phial had been placed, so that it is now impossible to decide on the 

 sex of the interred person. All the other vessels came from the graves 

 of men, but a chemical analysis of the contents by Prof Church renders 

 it probable that the phial once contained a cosmetic, and the interment 

 may thus be an exception to the rule observed in this cemetery. 



Ornaments which usually mark a woman's grave, are exceptionally 

 found associated with the spear or other symbols of the sterner sex : one 

 particularly rich interment must be noticed. At the head lay the iron 

 hoops of a bucket already mentioned, and elsewhere a pair of iron 

 tweezers, an iron knife, buckle and ring, and a spiral ring of silver for 

 the finger ; but the most interesting relics were a pair of bird-shaped 

 brooches of bronze-gilt, inlaid with silver and set with garnets (fig. 

 6). These belong to an unmistakable type found in the Isle of Wight 

 and Kent, and occasionally elsewhere in southern England, but also 

 common in the contemporary graves of Normandy. The exact converse 

 of the Saxon brooch is presented by a pair of iron brooches with pins of 

 bronze : they are of a common late Roman form, but are rarely found 

 in Anglo-Saxon graves. 



The gilt buckle with its plate (fig. i) as well as the small 'button' 

 brooches (fig. 4) might have come from Kent or the Lie of Wight, but 

 larger brooches on the same principle are known as saucer-brooches and 

 are practically confined to the West Saxons. The High Down examples 

 of this type are comparatively numerous, and except those from Saxon- 

 bury are the only specimens the county has produced : the ornament 

 consists of an alternation of concentric rings and radiating strokes, or the 

 continuous spiral, recalling the Keilschnitt of the 5th century. The 

 latter style of incising bronze is also seen on the delicately chased orna- 



' Revue Archeohgique, xxxviii. (1879), 39-45. 



343 



