440 Mr. Tate on Yevering Bell, &c. 



north-east direction fi-om Fortlet B, and crossing the ancient 

 British road, another fortified dwelling is reached of a larger 

 size and ruder structure. The shape approaches to a square 

 with the corners rounded, and it measures internally 93 feet hy 

 80 feet ; the walls formed of large stones, are from 4 feet to 5 

 feet in thickness ; and the entrance, which is 6 feet wide, is 

 on the north side near to the east wall. Within this Fortlet 

 are several foundations of a rounded form ; one of an oval 

 shape, 18 feet by 12 feet in diameter, was cleared, and at the 

 depth of 4 feet a well-flagged floor was exposed. Two up- 

 right stones, 3 feet 3 inches in height, stand on the west side 

 of this flagging. Relics were discovered at two diiferent 

 levels ; at the lowest level, on the flagged floor, there were 

 two hones or sharpening stones, a small perforated stone, a 

 flint, and charred wood. One of the hones is a hard, very fine 

 grained, almost compact trap rock, and the other is softer and 

 a kind of greywacke ; though neither occurs in situ in the 

 district, they may have been obtained from the superficial 

 drift deposits. The flint is but a fragment, but like all the 

 other flint objects found in the district, it has been brought 

 from a distance. The perforated stone relic is of mica 

 schist which does not occur in Northumberland nor on the 

 Borders ; it is regularly squared and smooth, 3 inches in 

 length, and when perfect it had been 1 inch broad ; the per- 

 foration is through the middle near to one end. {Plate XVI. 

 fig. 8.) Professor Simpson informed me, that similar stones 

 had been found, belonging to an early period, in Scotland, 

 near to fishing stations, and that they were supposed to have 

 been used as weights to sink nets or fishing lines. 



At a higher level by 21 feet, or 18 inches from the surface, 

 there were relics of a different character and age. Many 

 fragments of a peculiar pottery were found along with a piece 

 of sheet lead. This pottery is finer, harder and better burnt 

 than that found on the top of the Bell, and indeed than any 

 that is usually regarded as Celtic or Ancient British. Some 

 fragments shew, that some of the vessels had well formed 

 rounded projecting rims, and had also been ornamented 

 by parallel incised lines or grooves — Plate XVI. figs. 9 

 and 10 — yet it is coarse as compared with even the rudest 

 modern pottery, for small pebbles have not been taken out 

 of the clay -, much of it is black or dark grey throughout, 

 excepting a thin film of reddish brown on the outside, shew- 

 ing that either vegetable matter had been mixed with the 

 clay, or that the vessel had been burnt in a " smother kiln." 



