438 



CINERARY URNS FROM GUNWALLOE. 



These urns, which have been presented to the Royal Institution 

 of Cornwall by Capt. J. P. Rogers, R.A., of Penrose, were 

 discovered by Mr. John Freeman, of Gunwalloe, on Saturday, 

 July 1 6th, 1898. On that day Mr. Freeman noticed a hole in the 

 ground on the edge of the cliff, at Pedngwinion Point, in the 

 Parish of Gunwalloe, and at the end of the hole something round. 

 He carefully cleared away the earth and found the three urns, one 

 perfect and two in pieces. He took them to Penrose Estate Office 

 on August 6th. On the following Monday, August 8th, Mr. H. 

 D. Acland and Mr. Lionel Rogers went to investigate the place. 

 They found what were evidently the remains of a tumulus which 

 had been denuded almost level with the surrounding country, and 

 the urns were found on its S.W. edge. With the assistance of 

 Mr. Freeman they re-opened the hist-vaen and found a fiat stone 26 

 ins. long, by 1^ ins. wide, lying on the top of a number of fiat 

 fragments, all being of local origin. Mr. Freeman explained that the 

 fragments were originally placed vertically as a lining to the pit, 

 which, without the lining, measured 33-ins. by 27-ins. and was 

 24-ins. deep. The country, which was clay, they cleared out. 

 The urns had each occupied one of three corners of a rectangle, 

 and there were no traces of a fourth, though a lump of earth and 

 a number of bones were lying where one might have been. Mr. 

 Freeman told them there was a flat stone on each urn, one of 

 which was brought back. Having completed their examination 

 the hole was refilled and the covering stone replaced. The urns 

 are made of well baked pottery, and, as may be seen from the 

 illustration, are of tine workmanship. The contained bones were 

 calcined, but with them were no traces of charcoal, flints, or, with 

 one possible exception, metal. The two imperfect urns were sent 

 by Mr. J. D. Enys to be restored by Mr. A. P. Ready who does 

 similar work for the British Museum, and the three, now complete, 

 are arranged in a case in the museum of the Institution. On going 

 very carefully through the contents of the urns Mr. J. D. Enys 

 found a number of bones which evidently were not human, and 

 these on being submitted to Mr. E. T. Newton were determined 

 by him to be bones of a very young rabbit, bones of 3 birds 

 agreeing most nearly with the wheatear, and the humerus and tibig. 

 of a toad. 



