By 3Iaud E. Cunningion. 127 



are by far the most common ; all the pottery being without a single 

 exception in fragments ; and the occasional occurrence of other 

 relics, odds and ends, all of which, with scarcely an exception, had 

 been broken or rendered useless before they were thrown away, 

 makes it as clear as any such evidence can, that the heap is simply 

 an accumulation of rubbish from some dwelling that doubtless 

 stood at no great distance from the spot. 



Although so near to Martinsell Camp, it does not of course 

 necessarily follow that the dwelling that must once have stood 

 here had any real association with the camp. It is unfortunate, 

 that, as is the case with most of the early and pre-historic camps 

 of Wiltshire, the date of Martinsell is unknown. 



Fortunately it has been found possible from the evidence of the 

 relics, more particularly from that of the pottery and of the fibula?, 

 to give within reasonable limits a date for the accumulation of the 

 rubbish. Speaking generally of the pottery sent to him Mr. 

 Eeginald Smith, of the British Museum, remarks : — " So far as I 

 can judge, it all dates from the early years of our era. The purely 

 British type of pottery is well represented." The probable date 

 of the fibulae also agrees well with that given by the pottery. 

 There need, then, be little hesitation in assigning as the date of 

 the formation of the rubbish heap the early years of the first 

 century A.D., and perhaps the declining years of the last century 

 B.C. — that is to say the period between the invasion of Julius 

 Cresar and the final conquest of Britain in the reign of the Emperor 

 Claudius. The evidence on which this date is partly based is en- 

 tered into in more detail in the description of the pottery which 

 follows. 



It must surely have been a household of wealth and importance 

 that could indulge, at this early date, at a spot as remote as Oare, 

 their taste for refined and delicate table ware imported from distant 

 centres of manufacture on the Continent. The near neighbour- 

 hood of the dwelling to the big camp of Martinsell makes one 

 wonder if there was any connection between these two events, the 

 abandonment of the dwelling and the occupation of the country 

 by the Bomans. It would indeed be interesting to know to what 

 period the camp belongs. 



