154 



On Celtic Remains found in the neighbourhood of Wooler. 

 By George Tate, F.G.S. 



Two cist-vaens, recently opened at Humbleton Buildings, near 

 to Wooler, are interesting, because distinctly snowing the mode 

 in which the body, when buried entire, was placed in the rude 

 Celtic sepulchre. These cists were found 6 feet below the sum- 

 mit of a rounded hill ; they were formed of slabs of a hard sand- 

 stone belonging to the district, and were 5 feet long by 4 feet 

 broad. In each cist was an entire skeleton of a human being ; 

 the head of the one lying towards the west, and that of the other 

 towards the north. Both were bent up, the knees resting on the 

 stomach, and the arms placed nearly around the neck. When 

 first uncovered, the skeletons were perfect, with all the teeth 

 entire ; but soon after exposure, they crumbled into dust. 

 Imagination need not be taxed for mysterious reasons to account 

 for the doubling up of these skeletons, since this would, in most 

 cases, be necessary when the body was interred entire, as the 

 graves, formed only of single slabs set on edge, were usually 

 shorter than the body of a mature human being. 



In this neighbourhood several other Celtic remains have, at 

 different times, been discovered. A cist was exposed by the 

 plough in a field near Humbleton Burn in 1811 ; it contained 

 an urn, and also the skeleton of a male, in a high state of pre- 

 servation, which must have been fully 7 feet in height. About 

 fifty years ago, another rude cist-vaen was found beneath a large 

 tumulus or barrow in a field called " Stoney-vage," near to 

 Humbleton House. This tumulus was formed of earth, clay, and 

 blocks of stone, and rose to the height of 15 feet, with a circum- 

 ference of about 150 feet. A large tulip-shaped urn, 16 inches 

 in height, stood in the cist ; and within it were found twenty- 

 five beads of polished cannel coal. Thirteen of them were flat 

 and quadrangular, varying from \ an inch to 1^ inch across, 

 and having a thickness of yg-th of an inch ; one of the largest 

 was studded over with gold points, arranged in zigzag order ; 

 the other twelve were cylindrical, being 1^ inch long and \ of 

 an inch in diameter. All these beads were perforated ; and 

 when strung, the flat alternating with the cylindrical, they had 

 been Worn around the neck. A similar ornament was seen by 

 Captain Carpenter, which was obtained from a barrow in Crook- 

 ham Dean. The flat beads in this case were wedge-shaped, and 

 the others round, and each one had two perforations. They 

 were found strung on copper wire, and hanging around the neck 

 of an urn. 



Golden torques, beads of glass and enamel, and articles made 



