MORTIMER : PRE-HISTORY OF THE YILLAOE OF FIMBER. 223 
riveted to some thin substance. A few flint flakes were also found. 
In looking over the potsherds four kinds were readily observed. 
The first consisted of a few pieces of rather small vessels of a 
dark texture, very like the Roman black-ware, and fi-ee from glaze. 
The second kind are larger pieces, of a coarse brown colour, 
some portions of which are glazed and seem to belong to vessels 
somewhat resembling the common pancheons now in use. 
The third kind contains many pieces of a thin unglazed ware, 
made of red clay, the inside of which, to about half its thickness, is 
burnt black. 
Lastly, there are many pieces clearly belonging to several vessels 
of various sizes, all of which possess a beautiful gi'een glaze, and have 
a whitish texture. 
The corroded iron consists for the most part of nails, some of 
which have rather large flat heads, and others have small heads, 
similar to some of the kinds now in use. There are also four bent 
pieces, resembling the sides of buckles, or staples, and four flat 
pieces, two of which appear to have had holes through them ; and 
the other two look like portions of knives or spear-heads. The most 
recognisable bones we possess from this mound are chiefly teeth of 
the horse, cow, and the goat or small deer. 
After a few years increased experience in barrow digging, we 
believed that a further examination of this mysterious mound would 
throw some additional light on its lost history ; we, therefore, on 
May 12th, 13th, and 14th, 1870, conducted a most careful research, 
commencing on the southern margin, and presently noticed a well- 
defined disturbance in the gi'ound under the mound, running towards 
the centre. In following this old excavation we observed, on reach- 
ing the centre of the mound, that it branched to the east and to the 
west, and also extended towards the northern margin, thus forming a 
complete cross-formed excavation, with equal arms, cut through the 
mound into the ground below, and charged with dirty gravel. This 
gravel, like that from the mound above, was found to be mixed with 
great numbers of potsherds similar to those I have described, broken 
animal bones and teeth, bits of burnt and decayed wood, and much 
oxidized iron, chiefly nails of various sizes, some adhering to bits of 
