6o 
THE OPENING OF A TUMULUS NEAR PICKERING. 
The decoration consists of rings encircling the vessels at varying 
levels. Between the top and second ring is a series of straight 
vertical lines, made up of three or four indentations. Between the 
next set are two series of three vertical lines containing two dozen 
indentations, the spaces between being filled with similar V shaped 
lines, with the apex to the right. Next comes a series similar to 
the first rings. Then a blank space. Afterwards a repetition of 
the first and third series. Below these there is a series of double 
zigzags, the spaces being filled with vertical lines. Below this 
again a blank space and an inversion of the above zigzag and 
lines. Next we have two more circling rings and then a repetition 
of the above zigzag figure. Finally a set of three circling rings 
and then a blank space. The thickness of the vessel is about i cm. 
The material of which it is made is fine clay, and has not been 
turned on a wheel. It is somewhat distorted in shape, which is 
probably due to unequal pressure in the ground. 
Although no two beakers have the same design, yet there are 
many that have been marked with similar tools, e.g., Fig. 82 and 
83? pages 95 and 96, “ British Barrows.” 
It is curious to note that the decorations are similar to those 
used on our modern kitchen utensils. Plate. III. b, 4. 
According to the late Mr. Mortimer, drinking vessels are rarely 
found in the N. and E. Ridings of Yorkshire. In his collection at 
Driffield there are 162 vases and 38 drinking cups. In Mr. 
Mitchelson’s Museum at Pickering, there are only 2 of the latter 
among some 135 vessels. In the Bateman collection at Sheffield, 
there are 2 or 3 drinking vessels that have been found in the 
Pickering district. 
Drinking Cups or Beakers are almost invariably found in in¬ 
humed burials, and consequently have been thought to contain 
food, etc., for the spirit. We have the same idea in the ancient 
Egyptian burials, where considerable provision is made for the 
spirit or soul of the mummy. 
The Hon. John -Abercromby maintains that the beaker is the 
oldest Bronze Age Ceramic in Great Britain, that its importers 
were those brachycephalic people whose remains have been so 
largely found in round barrows and other Bronze Age burials. 
The association of beaker and brachycephalic skull in a short cyst 
is not an absolute rule, but so far as practical research has hither¬ 
to determined the point, the exceptions noted are very few. 
