The Grave-mounds of Derbyshire, and their Contents. 47 1 



urns, they are contracted and have a kind of neck instead of 

 the overhanging lip or rim which characterizes so much of the 

 sepulchral pottery of that period. The urns are formed by hand, 

 not on the wheel, like so many of the Romano-British period, 

 and they are, as a rule, perhaps, more firmly fired than the 

 Celtic ones. They are usually of a dark-coloured clay, some- 

 times nearly "black, at other times they are dark brown, and 

 occasionally of a slate or greenish tint produced by surface 

 colouring. The general form of these interesting fictile vessels 

 will be best understood by reference to the accompanying 



engraving which exhibits two of the urns from Kingston. One 

 of these will be seen to have projecting knobs or bosses, 

 which have been formed by simply pressing out the pliant clay 

 from the inside with the hand. In other examples these raised 

 bosses take the form of ribs gradually swelling out from the 

 bottom, till, at the top they expand into semi-egg-shaped 

 protuberances. The ornamentation on the urns from these 

 cemeteries usually consist of encircling incised lines in bands 

 or otherwise, and vertical or zig-zag lines arranged in a variety 

 of ways, and not unfrequently the knobs or protuberances of 

 which I have just spoken. Sometimes, also, they present evi- 

 dent attempts at imitation of the Eomau egg and tongue 

 ornament. The marked features of the pottery of this period, 

 is the frequency of small punctured or impressed ornaments 

 which are introduced along with the lines or bands with very 

 good effect. These ornaments were evidently produced by the 

 end of a stick cut and notched across in different directions so 

 as to produce crosses and other patterns. In some districts 

 these vessels are ornamented with simple patterns painted upon 

 their surface in white ; but so far as my knowledge goes, no ex- 



