A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 



stoup. 1 Halos of the same form are seen on some of the figures and 

 one of the panels containing a cross with Alpha and Omega within a 

 nimbus ; while the subjects are biblical and include representations of 

 Adam and Eve, and a standing figure in the attitude of prayer. 



It has been supposed that buckets, bronze bowls, pottery vases, and 

 above all the stoup found at Long Wittenham, were for the reception of 

 holy water, while fragments of charcoal in many of the graves may point 

 to the use of incense at interments/ Though several graves at Long 

 Wittenham contained one or more vessels that may have served this pur- 

 pose, no rule can here be formulated from their occurrence. Eight such 

 graves were those of males, three of the other sex ; and there was no 

 uniformity in the placing of the vessels nor in the direction of the graves 

 containing them. More were found at the right shoulder than at the 

 left, but some had been deposited at the feet even when the upper end 



BRONZE BROOCHES, LONG WITTENHAM. 



of the grave was not occupied by a second or even a third vessel. Nor, 

 to judge from the orientation, were these supposed receptacles for holy 

 water confined to purely Christian interments, though eight of the twelve 

 in question were dug in accordance with the custom of the Church. On 

 the whole, a review of the results achieved at Long Wittenham shows 

 the futility of applying hard and fast rules to the remains of a population 

 by no means homogeneous, and obviously in a state of transition between 

 the old faith and the new. 



There are however some characteristics that may be noted as afford- 

 ing a clue to the affinities of these early settlers in Berkshire. In a 

 minority of the graves of women were discovered flat circular brooches 

 (figs. 5 and 7), the front engraved with circles or other geometrical 

 patterns. This is one of the commonest forms met with in this country, 

 and occurs in most of the districts overrun by the pagan invaders. The 



1 Lindenschmit, AlterthUmer unserer heidniscben Vofze'it, iii. pt. x. pi. iv. fig. I . 



2 Arch, xxxix. 136; Invcntorium Sepuichrale, p. 68. 



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