694 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



under side, and on the upper side one edge only is worked down. They are a 

 trifle larger than the Neolithic thumb-scraper, and are not so thick in proportion. 

 Strewn among them a number of small flat sharp-edged flakes were found, many 

 of which, when not quite flat enough for the work for which they were intended, 

 had been reduced to the desired shape by a few deliberate blows. These appear 

 to be the knives used in skinning. In all, forty-six scrapers and thirty-three knives 

 were picked up at depths varying from 10 to 12 feet. The author is inclined to 

 recognise in these small implements the Palaeolithic prototypes of the later thumb- 

 scrapers, and in the flat sharp-edged flints the forerunners of the Neolithic knives. 

 One or two points m the geology of the pit which the winter's work brought 

 to light may be worthy of notice. Working in a southerly direction, the brick- 

 earth dividing the upper from the lower flint-bearing gravels was seen to be 

 thinning out till it ended in a tongue of clay, beyond which the gravels were united. 

 The finding of this junction of the gravels appears to be of importance in deter- 

 mining the age of the tools. It might have been supposed that the true depth of 

 the lower Palfeolithic bed was 12 to 14 feet ; that an enormous interval then ensued 

 during which the thick band of clay was deposited ; and that another Palfeolithic 

 gravel bed of much later date and quite distinct from the first was then laid down 

 over it. It now appears possible that some of the flints from the surface were 

 swept into a pool in the river bed ; that when the rush of water ceased the mud 

 had time to settle down over them, while later another spate brought down gravels 

 and flints from the same original level, and laid them horizontally over the silted- 

 up pool. This would account for tlie occurrence of tools similar in type in both 

 upper and lower gravels; and it would therefore be correct to say that the site 

 should take its date, not from the lowest level at which flints occurred, but from 

 the highest position in which they were found — namely, 5J feet only from the 

 present surface. 



4 An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery in Ipswich, ^y Miss N INA Frances La yard. 



During extensive works being carried on in Ipswich last winter the author 

 discovered that the high land which was being levelled was the site of an Anglo- 

 Saxon cemetery. In all thirty-three graves were found, from which the following 

 relics were obtained : Eleven spearheads, eighteen knives, eight bosses of shields ; 

 seven necklaces of beads, one necklace composed of an iron ring with fastening, 

 on which is one amber bead ; three cruciform fibulae, one circular fibula set 

 with gems and shell ; two flat circular fibuh-e, one plain, the other orna- 

 mented with dots and circles ; one large ornamental buckle in three parts, two 

 small buckles, one iron key (Roman pattern), one double-toothed comb, one iron 

 pot-hook, one object of iron and silver, use unknown, two brownish-black pots, 

 two glass drinking-cups of an amber colour, one iron ornament with cable 

 pattern, &c. 



Among the six fibulae found two are worthy of special notice. The large 

 cruciform brooch is interesting as having a stud on the bow — a type rarely met 

 with in England. Another brooch, which is circular in form and of the Kentish 

 type, is of exceptional value. It is of bronze, gilded, and set with garnets and 

 shell. In the centre is a, boss surrounded by cable ornamentation, in which a 

 fine ruby^-coloured garnet is set in shell, to which the verdigris has imparted a 

 pale-blue shade. With one exception, this is probably the only brooch of the 

 kind which has been found with the centre perfect. One of the small flat 

 circular fibulae shows remnants of the garments which it fastened still adhering 

 to it. As these are seen on both sides of the brooch, it proves that it was used 

 to fasten an undergarment. This appears to have been of a loosely woven, 

 plaited pattern, while above was a dress, also of coarse material, but of closer 

 make, with the threads running crosswise. 



In many cases it was noticed that the chin and neck bones of the skeletons 

 were stained with verdigris, showing that in these cases the brooch was placed 

 beneath the chin. 



The flat circular brooches which have no catch show, perhaps, the most primi- 



