42 Prehistoric and Roman Swindon. 



From time to time this is out back as fresh stone is required, and by 

 this means an appreciable proportion of the subsoil on the highest 

 part of the hill has been quarried within the last few years. 



In November, 1906, men engaged in removing the turf and laying 

 bare the top beds of sand and brash, came upon a shallow grave, 

 3ft. in depth (the exact size of which could not be ascertained), 

 containing a skeleton lying on its right side, head to the south, 

 feet to the north, the face pointing east, the body only slightly 

 contracted, the bones being spread over a larger space than usual. 

 Behind the head and almost touching it, was the drinking cup here 

 illustrated (Fig. 1). 



At the moment of discovery a landslide on a small scale happened, 

 the cup was badly smashed, a part of it crushed to powder, and 

 the remainder scattered. As restored from the collected fragments 

 it stands 6in. high, 4f in. in greatest diameter at a point 2in. above 

 the base, while the lip diameter is ^in. less. 



The ornamentation is so well shown that it needs no description. 

 The cup is formed of a finely tempered paste of a light brown 

 colour, very light and thin, the pattern being incised with a pointed 

 stick or bone. The skeleton, although somewhat decayed, is that 

 of a young person, probably about 15 years of age and of slight 

 build. The skull was, unfortunately, much damaged, but as re- 

 stored is markedly dolichocephalic, although no absolutely reliable 

 measurements could be taken. 



This skeleton has been presented to the British Museum of 

 Natural History at South Kensington. Twelve months later, men 

 working at a spot roughly 50 yards east of the last interment, 

 came upon a small heap of human bones lying on the stony brash 

 within 18in. of the surface. They were those of a young child and 

 seem to have been buried without the flesh and in a broken con- 

 dition, no piece being longer than 4|in., while a considerable part 

 of the whole skeleton is missing. Being so near the surface they 

 may have been disturbed in former times, but a careful examination 

 of the site yielded nothing in support of this idea. Lying by the 

 bones were the crushed remains of a large drinking cup, which, as 

 restored, stands 7|in. high and 5|in. in diameter at the lip. It is 



