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i>n a JUmarhMe Vessel farniir at Jattott. 



ggpg|HOSE who attended the Swindon Meeting in 1898 will 

 Ijjfl i remember that one of the most interesting objects comprised 

 in Mr. A. D. Passmore's collection, then exhibited, was the earthen- 

 ware vessel here illustrated. It was found at Latton two or three 

 years ago, by a labourer, from whom it was obtained by Mr. 

 Passmore. Unhappily no t particulars could be obtained as to 

 whether anything was found with it — nothing had been notioed 

 by the finder. The pot itself, except that a portion of the base 

 was broken away, was perfect. It is in several ways a remarkable 

 specimen, and is quite unlike anything else found in the county, 

 or, indeed, so far as I have been able to discover, in other parts of 

 England. It is obvious that it is entirely distinct in shape from 

 the Bronze Age Pottery so abundant in the round barrows of 

 Wilts, of which we have such a fine series at Devizes. On the 

 other hand its ornamentation much more resembles that of this old 

 British pottery than anything that is found on pottery of the 

 Eoman Age in Britain. It is a hand-made vessel, and its shape 

 is not regular, but it has been carefully tooled up and polished on 

 the outside, in this resembling fragments of ware apparently of 

 Romano-British age found at Oldbury and at Cold Kitchen Hill. 

 The ware itself is rather thick and coarse, not particularly well 

 burnt, and is of a blackish brown colour. Two holes, on opposite 

 sides of the vessel, are pieroed through the rim at the foot, one of 

 which is seen in the illustration. It is not easy to assign a use for 

 these holes, unless they were for fastening the vessel firmly by 

 means of nails or pegs. The shape suggests a Roman model, and 

 in some respects somewhat resembles certain late Celtic vessels found 

 recently in Kent and elsewhere. The ornamentation round the 

 shoulder consists, as will be seen, of a double line enclosing small 

 rude circles, with a series of Vandykes below, each ending in a 

 similar small circle. These Vandykes are formed of triple lines of 



