By Mr. Cunnington. 



165 



Saxondom," plate i. From these sources we obtain the following 

 particulars. " The barrow in question is a small one on the apex 

 of Roundway down, which though particularly mentioned by Sir 

 R. Colt Hoare, somehow or other escaped examination by that in- 

 defatigable antiquary. On digging into it, at the depth of seven 

 feet the workmen reached the natural chalk level, and came to a 

 skeleton very much decayed, which had formerly been enclosed in 

 a wooden cist bound round and clamped together with strong iron 

 plates or hoops. Several portions of this iron work, though in a 

 very corroded state, had fibres of the wood still adhering to them, 

 and remained precisely as originally placed. The skeleton lay east 

 and west, the head towards the latter point. At the feet was one 

 of those vessels which are sometimes discovered in the graves of 

 this period, in the shape of a?pail, hooped with brass, and orna- 

 mented with about twenty triangular pieces of the same metal. 

 Near the neck of the skeleton were found some elegant ornaments, 

 consisting of garnets and vitrified pastes strongly set in gold. 



" There were also two gold pins with garnets set in the head, 

 and connected by a chain of the same metal, suspended to the centre 

 of which, is a small medallion bearing a cruciform pattern. This, 

 and a triangular plate of a paste-like composition, set in gold, led 

 Mr. Money to the conclusion that the grave was that of a Christian 

 Romanized Briton, who existed in one of the four first centuries 

 after Christ." Mr. Akerman however expresses a doubt on this 

 subject, which we are quite inclined to support, and says that it is 

 by no means certain, that the body was that of a Christianized 

 Anglo-Saxon Lady, " for though the ornament in the centre of the 

 chain represents a cross, we cannot receive it as a conclusive evi- 

 dence of the faith of the wearer. The same remark applies to the 

 triangular shaped pendant. That this form of necklace was popu- 

 lar in the sixth century we may infer from the circumstance of its 

 occurring on the neck of a bust of Roma, which appears on the 

 coins of the Gothic monarchs, struck in Italy about this time." 

 An engraving of one of these coins is included in Mr. Akerman'& 

 plate. 



Mrs. Colston having kindly allowed me a further examination 



