204 RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN CORNWALL. 



(C). The little perforated cup, technically but perhaps 

 erroneously* named an " incense cup," found within the urn, is 

 of far greater interest than any other portion of the find, because 

 it seems to be the only one known to exist in the county. It is 

 probably uniqiie. 



Its form is that of a small round thick bason, the base flat 

 and circular, the sides bulging outward as they rise, the brim 

 broad and inclined downward towards the interior. Two holes 

 are neatly pierced close together in one side at about half way 

 up the inner depth. They are small and so near each other that 

 together they are included in a space only f of an inch wide. 

 The color of the vessel, like that of the urn, is a drab pale brown. 

 The burning is slight, and there is no glaze. The dimensions of 

 the cup are : — 



Height If inches. 



Depth within 1 ,, 



Diameter at brim 2£ ,, 



,, within If ,, 



„ of base If- . ,, 



,, of perforations -^ ,, 



"Width of space between them . . . . -^ ,, 



Thickness of side -^ ,, 



,, of brim % „ 



For ornament, on the brim 3 lines run round ; below the 

 brim, outside, 3 others ; lower still a series of single chevrons 

 pointing to the left ; the bottom and interior are plain. 



Referring to fictilia of this class Mr. Borlase wrote: — "Of 

 incense cups there no examples in Cornwall."^ He described 

 miniature urns, averaging from 4£ to 6 inches in height, but 

 even those were not so small as this little object. Mr. Worth 



* Jewitt states that in grave mounds of the Celtic period, the pottery found 

 consists of : — 



1. Sepulchral urns, with calcined human bones. 



2. Incense cups " erroneously so called for want of more knowledge of their 



use, — a name which ought to be discarded," found only with burnt 

 bones in large cinerary urns. 



3. Food vessels ") more usually found with unburnt bodies (Grave Mounds, 



4. Drinking cups ) pp. 84, 105). 

 Tf Nsenia, p. 146. 



