286 Inaugural Address by the President of the Society, 



Their pottery was of various qualities, some harder and better baked 

 than others ; some vessels perforated as colanders, some in the form 

 of saucers with small handles, some basin-shaped, others pitcher- 

 shaped, others in the shape of jars and vases of graceful form ; and 

 judging 1 by the number of pots perforated with large holes on the 

 bottoms or sides, and having loops for suspension on the upper part, 

 with large open mouths, it would appear probable that they made 

 use of honey largely in their food, and that these vessels were em- 

 ployed for draining it into other vessels from the honeycomb. The 

 number of skeletons of new-born children was sufficient to create a 

 suspicion, at least, of infanticide, though not enough to prove that 

 such a practice prevailed. 



Judging by the slight trace of their habitations that remained, 

 and the small size of them, and the apparently careless way in 

 which they buried their dead, one might suppose that they lived in 

 a poor way and died unregretted by their friends ; but, on the other 

 hand, there were indications of comfort, and even of refinement. 

 There were found fragments of red Samian ware of the finest quality 

 and highly ornamented, whieh, at that time and in this country, 

 was probably equivalent to our china ; and a few fragments of 

 pottery with green and yellow glaze, which was of extreme rarity 

 amongst the Romans. They had chests of drawers, in which they 

 kept their goods, which were decorated with bronze bosses, and 

 ornamented with tastefully-designed handles of the same metal. 

 They had vessels of glass, whieh implies a certain degree of luxury. 

 They used tweezers for extracting thorns, or for plucking out the 

 hair of their beards, bronze ear-picks, and even implements designed 

 expressly for cleaning their finger-nails, and they played games of 

 drafts. A number of iron styli showed that they were able to read 

 and write, and one decorated tablet of Kimmeridge Shale appeared 

 to be of the kind used for writing upon with the stylus, by means 

 of a coating of wax spread over it. Some of their houses were 

 painted on the inside and warmed with flues in the Roman style. 

 They were, perhaps, covered with the Roman tegula? and imbrices, 

 and others were certainly roofed with tiles of Purbeck Shale. They 

 wore well-formed bronze finger rings, set with stones or enamelled, 



