Notes, Archaeological and Historical. 



263 



handle end, and still retains the three rivets which fastened it to the handle, 

 the shape of which could be distinctly seen. By the side of this was a finely- 

 worked flint arrow-head, of an uncommon hollow-based type, || of an inch 

 long and the same in width. 



The barrow stands in a field the surface of which is strewn with sherds of 

 Roman pottery. The farm labourers have a tradition that a Church and a 

 large town once existed on the spot. 



A. D. Passmoeb. 

 British Skeleton at Swindon. 



In August, 1894, some men, whilst cutting a road through a field called 

 the " Butts," near the Midland Railway bridge, came upon a skeleton lying 

 on its side, about 3ft. 6in. deep. The hands were covering the face, and the 

 knees drawn up towards the chin. The head pointed to the south-east. I 

 carefully examined the ground around the interment, and found several flint 

 flakes. From the position of the skeleton there can be no doubt that this is 

 a prehistoric burial. The skull has been pronounced by Professor Stuart to 

 be of the dolichocephalic type common in the Long Barrow Period. This 

 spot is not very far from the stone monument which once stood at Broom 

 Farm. In the top of the skull there is a small hole bored through about 

 large enough to admit a piece of string. I can only account for this by the 

 custom prevalent amongst some American Indians of boring the skull to admit 

 the departed spirit when paying visits to its former abode. 



A. D. Passmobe. 



Roman Key from Oldbury Castle. 



The iron key here illustrated has lately been given to the Museum by Mr. 

 H. N. Godclard. It was found many years ago by flint-diggers on Oldbury 

 Castle. It is 4in. long, the stem being "piped" as in the case of modern 

 keys. The plate projects lin. from the stem, and has two slits for two straight 

 wards, with four long teeth set at right angles to the plate to raise the tumblers 

 of the lock. The handle is flat at the end, fin. wide, and has a large hole 

 at the end for suspension. Very similar iron keys may be seen amongst the 

 Silchester finds in the Reading Museum, and others in bronze in the British 

 Museum. 



. E. H. GoDDAED. 



A Mediaeval (Norman) Kiln and Pottery at Wootton 



Bassett. 



In the Magazine issued November, 1802 (vol. xxvi., p. 416), Mr. T. W. 

 Leslie reported the opening of two barrows near Wootton Bassett, one in a 

 field called " Woolleys," at Knighton, the other at Brynard's Hill. No 

 interment was found in either, though the presence of ashes and charred wood 



