By the Rev. G. S. Master. 39 



furnished with an external projecting belt turned downwards, the 

 object of which is presumed to have been the concentration of heat 

 round the bottom of the pan. Upon this and upon another frag- 

 ment, which seems to have been the lid of an olla, potters' marks 

 were stamped, but the letters are too much obliterated to be de- 

 eypherable. 



I leave it to those more conversant with the subject than myself, 

 to determine how much and what portions of all this mass of pottery 

 were productions of the well-known manufactories in the New 

 Forest ; and I shall be grateful for any suggestions or information 

 which may throw light upon the origin of the deposit. 



I have already noticed the remarkable fact that the pottery was 

 found alone, unaccompanied by bones, oyster-shells, or any objects 

 of metal, with the single exception of this small article of bronze, 

 something like a bell-crank, the use of which I am unable to con- 

 jecture, unless it may have formed part of a horse's bridle, and 

 ornamented the side of the bit. About thirty coins were turned up, 

 chiefly of third brass, many of them quite illegible ; those in better 

 condition comprising examples of Postumus, Claudius Gothicus, 

 Tacitus, Carausius, Constantinus Magnus (one of this Emperor 

 having the letters "P. L. N." "pecunia Londinensis/' on the 

 exergue, showing that it was coined in London), and Constantinus 

 Secundus. 



Before bringing my paper to a conclusion, I may be allowed to 

 mention that the interest excited by this discovery has led to another 

 likely to be of still greater importance, but the results of which 

 being as yet imperfectly ascertained, cannot be laid in their entirety 

 before this Congress. Thus much I may say ; that in consequence 

 of representations made to me by the occupier of the farm adjoining 

 Holbury wood, I was induced to examine the edge of a large chalk- 

 pit in a field below his house, and perhaps a quarter-of-a-mile from 

 the scene of my first excavation. The section of the chalk gave 

 evidence of an ancient depression or ditch, pursuing which in Sep- 

 tember of last year in a southern direction from the chalk-pit, fo 

 the distance of fifty-five yards, and digging a trench three feet in 

 depth and width, I obtained indisputable proof of the close prox- 



