THE EARLY POTTERIES OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 9 



in general form from those with the usual overlapping rims, 

 and one of them has the peculiarity of looped ears at its sides. 

 They may possibly have been the work of the females of a 

 migratory tribe. 



The Celtic drinking -vessels found in the Staffordshire and 

 Derbyshire barrows are generally from about six to nine 

 inches in height, tall in form, contracted in the middle, 

 globular in their lower half, and expanding at the mouth. 

 They are usually very richly ornamented with indented lines 

 in different patterns ; are carefully formed by hand, of fine 

 and well-tempered clay, mixed with fine sand, and are well 

 fired. They are the finest and best productions of Celtic 

 fictile art. Two examples from barrows in the adjoining 



county, Derbyshire, will show the form of the " drinking- 

 cups" of this district. The first one was found in 1851, in 

 a barrow called Bee Low, near Youlgreave. It was six inches 

 and three quarters high, and carefully ornamented with 

 indented twisted-thong patterns. It lay in the cist, as is 

 usual in the barrows of this district, in front of the skeleton, 

 which, as is generally the case, lay in a contracted position, 

 with its knees drawn up, on its left side. The next one 



