PAGAN CELTIC ART IN THE EARLY IRON AGE
INTRODUCTION OF THE USE OF IRON INTO BRITAIN BY THE BRYTHONIC CELTS,
CIRCA B.C. 300
In a previous chapter we pointed out the difference between the Q and
the P Celts, the former being Goidels in the Bronze Age, and the latter
Brythons in the Iron Age, when they first arrived in Britain. We will
now proceed to consider the nature of the culture introduced with the
use of iron into this country from Gaul by the Belgic or Brythonic
Celts.
NATURE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH HAVE LED TO THE FINDS
OF OBJECTS OF THE EARLY IRON AGE IN GREAT BRITAIN
A great variety of circumstances have led to the discovery of objects
of the Early Iron Age. Where they have not been buried at any great
depth beneath the surface of the ground, the plough[91] has frequently
been the means of bringing them to light. The making of roads[92] and
railways,[93] drainage of land for agricultural purposes,[94] military
fortifications,[95] quarrying[96] and mining,[97] have also had their
share in helping the archæologist. A considerable number of antiquities
which have found their way into the beds of rivers have been recovered
in the course of dredging operations for the improvement of inland
navigation[98] and building of bridge foundations.[99] Tumuli,[100]
camps,[101] caves,[102] sites of towns[103] and villages,[104]
crannogs,[105] etc., have yielded a plentiful harvest to the scientific
explorer. In some cases the denudation of the wind[106] or the erosion
of the sea[107] has removed the covering of sand by which the traces
of the ancient inhabitants have been concealed for centuries. The
rabbit,[108] although the enemy of the farmer, sometimes becomes the
friend of the antiquary by throwing up priceless relics of the past out
of his burrow. Lastly, pure accident[109] is now and then the agent by
which the position of a long-forgotten hiding-place for valuables is
made known.
[91] As at Polden Hill, Somersetshire.
[92] As at Birdlip, Gloucestershire.
[93] As at cuttings near Bedford and between Denbigh and Corwen.
[94] As at Westhall, Suffolk.
[95] As at Mount Batten, near Plymouth.
[96] As at Hamdon Hill, Somersetshire.
[97] As at Hunsbury, near Northampton.
[98] As in deepening the Shannon, Thames, and Witham.
[99] As at Kirkby Thore, on the Eden, Westmoreland.
[100] As at Arras, Yorkshire.
[101] As at Mount Caburn, near Lewes.
[102] As at Settle, Yorkshire; Deepdale, Derbyshire; and Kent’s Cavern
near Torquay.
[103] As at Great Chesters and Silchester.
[104] As at Glastonbury, Somersetshire.
[105] As at Lisnacroghera, Co. Antrim; Strokestown, Co. Roscommon; and
Lochlee, Ayrshire.
[106] As on the Culbin Sands, Elginshire, where in 1827 a sportsman
having lost his gunflint, found a splendid Late-Celtic bronze armlet,
whilst seeking for another flint on the site of a Neolithic settlement
covered with blown sand, except where denuded by the wind.
[107] As at Hoylake, in Cheshire, where the encroachment of the sea on
the portion of the coast lying between the estuaries of the Dee and the
Mersey washes out antiquities of every period from the submarine forest
and the sandhills above it.
[108] A beautiful Late-Celtic bronze armlet was found at Stanhope,
Peeblesshire, by the tenant of the farm, whilst searching for a rabbit,
under a large flat stone on the hillside.
[109] As in the case of the hoard of gold objects of bullion value,
amounting to £110, found at Shaw Hill, Peeblesshire, by a herd-boy who
saw something glitter in the ground, and scraped out the torques and
other relics with his foot.
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE FINDS OF OBJECTS OF THE EARLY IRON AGE
The general character of the finds of objects of the Early Iron Age is
almost as varied as the circumstances which have led to their recovery
from oblivion, and they may be classified according to their nature, as
follows:—
(1) Sepulchral remains.
(2) Remains found on inhabited or fortified sites.
(3) Hoards of objects purposely concealed.
(4) Objects accidentally lost.
_Sepulchral Remains._—The sepulchral deposits of the Early Iron Age
differ greatly, both as regards the methods of burial adopted in each
case, and the kind of grave-goods placed with the deceased. This is to
be accounted for by a difference of time rather than area; and it is
only natural to find the Bronze and Iron Ages merging into one another,
whilst towards the close of the Late-Celtic Roman and even Saxon
influence began to be felt.
Possibly the earliest sepulchral remains of the Late-Celtic period
that have been found in England are the burials under mounds at
Arras, on the Yorkshire Wolds, which were explored by the Rev. E.
W. Stillingfleet, D.D.,[110] in 1815-17, and the Rev. Canon W.
Greenwell[111] in 1876. The bodies were not cremated, as was generally
the case in the Bronze Age, and also subsequently during the
Romano-British period; but were buried in excavations in the chalk,
and the place of sepulture marked by a tumulus. The so-called Queen’s
Barrow at Arras, when opened by the Rev. W. Stillingfleet, was found
to contain the skeleton of a female, with the feet gathered up, and
the head to the north. The grave-goods consisted of one hundred glass
beads, two bracelets, rings of gold and amber, and a pair of tweezers.
[110] _Memoirs of the Meeting of the British Archæological Institute
held at York in 1846_, p. 26.
[111] Greenwell’s _British Barrows_, p. 454.
In another barrow at Arras, the Rev. W. Stillingfleet discovered the
remains of a warrior resting on the smooth pavement of a circular
excavation in the chalk, 8 to 9 yards in diameter, and 1 foot 6 inches
deep, lying on his back, with his arms crossed over the breast. He had
been interred with his chariot, a pair of horses completely harnessed,
and two wild boars.
A third barrow explored by the Rev. W. Stillingfleet also covered
the skeleton of a warrior with the remains of his martial equipment,
consisting of the bosses of his shield, one wheel of his chariot, two
of his horses’ bridle-bits. Two wild boars’ tusks (one of which was
perforated with a square hole, and enclosed in a case of thin brass)
were associated with this burial; indicating, perhaps, some religious
or superstitious belief connected with this animal.[112]
[112] A Late-Celtic boar’s head of bronze was found at Liecheston,
in Banffshire, in 1816 (see Dr. J. Anderson’s _Scotland in Pagan
Times: Iron Age_, p. 117). Three little bronze figures of boars, from
Hounslow, now in the British Museum, are illustrated in the _Proc.
Soc. Ant. Lond._ (2nd ser., vol. iii., p. 90); and the splendid bronze
shield from the Thames at Battersea, in the same collection, has a boar
represented upon it (see Kemble’s _Horæ Ferales_, pl. 14). The boar
also occurs on one of the Scotch symbol-bearing slabs at Knock-na-Gael,
near Inverness (see Stuart’s _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, vol. i.,
pl. 38). For a boar on a helmet, see account of Benty Grange tumulus on
p. 67.
A portion of the antiquities mentioned are now in York Museum, and the
Rev. W. Stillingfleet’s manuscript notes on his diggings in 1815-17 are
preserved in the Library of the York Philosophical Institute.
The barrow at Arras, opened by the Rev. Canon W. Greenwell, covered
a circular grave, 12 feet in diameter, sunk in the chalk to a depth
of 3 feet, on the floor of which was laid the skeleton of a woman,
resting on the left side, with her left hand up to the face, and the
head to the west. Two tame pigs were buried with the deceased, and the
grave-goods comprised an iron mirror, a bronze harness-ring, a pair
of iron chariot-wheels, two snaffle-bits, and what may have been a
whip-shank.
In 1875 Canon Greenwell explored a tumulus near Beverley, in Yorkshire,
which yielded two chariot-wheels and a bridle-bit, but no human or
other bones.
In July, 1897, Mr. J. R. Mortimer, of Driffield, opened 16 out of a
group of 178 barrows, called “Danes’ Graves,” near Pockthorpe Hall, two
miles west of Kilham, E. R. Yorkshire.[113] The burial-mounds were from
10 to 33 feet in diameter, and from 1 foot 3 inches to 3 feet 6 inches
high, covering graves, either oval or oblong with rounded corners,
about 7 feet long by 5 feet wide by 2 feet deep. All the bodies were
unburnt and buried in the doubled-up attitude characteristic of the
Neolithic period. A beautiful bronze pin, inlaid with shell, was
associated with the skeleton of a female in a grave beneath the largest
of the mounds, and in another were found two male skeletons buried with
a chariot, the iron tyres of the wheels and the iron hoops of the naves
of which still remained together with the two iron snaffle bridle-bits
of the horses. The antiquities derived from the “Danes’ Graves” are now
in the Museum of the York Philosophical Society. The average breadth
index of the skulls was 735.
[113] _Reliquary_ for 1897, p. 224; _Proc. Soc. Ant. Lond._, 2nd ser.,
vol. xvii., p. 119.
The burials just described bear a marked resemblance to those of
Gaulish warriors at Berru[114] and at Gorge-Meillet,[115] both in the
Department of the Marne in France, and may have belonged to the Celtic
tribe of the Parisi, who gave their name to Paris in Gaul, and who
colonised or conquered parts of Yorkshire.
Canon Greenwell describes the result of opening four barrows of the
Early Iron Age in the parish of Cowlam,[116] in Yorkshire, in all of
which were found the skeletons of females, laid on the natural surface
of the ground, resting on the left side, with the hands up to the
face, and the head to the north-east. The grave-goods from the first
barrow consisted of a bronze armlet, a bronze fibula with an iron pin,
and seventy exquisite blue glass beads; and from the second, of an
ornamental armlet. From the remaining two barrows only fragments of
pottery were obtained.
Mr. J. R. Mortimer explored a grave dug in the chalk, but without
any mound above it, in 1868, a quarter of a mile north-east of
Grimthorpe[117] House, near Pocklington, in Yorkshire. It measured
4 feet 6 inches long, by 2 feet 9 inches wide, by 4 feet deep, and
contained the skeleton of a young man, placed on the floor of the
grave, resting partly on the back, with the knees and head inclined to
the left side, the lower extremities drawn up, the hands on the breast,
and the head to the south. Associated with the burial were sixteen bone
implements, a sword-sheath, the umbo of a shield, a disc of bronze with
repoussé ornament, and bits of rude pottery.
[114] A. Bertrand, _Archéologie Celtique et Gauloise_, 2nd ed., 1889,
p. 356.
[115] E. Fourdrignier, _Double Sépulture Gauloise de la Gorge-Meillet_.
[116] _British Barrows_, p. 208, Nos. li. to liv. The results of the
exploration are now in the British Museum. The bronze objects are
engraved in Sir J. Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements_, pp. 387, 388,
and 400.
[117] _Reliquary_, vol. ix., p. 180, and Ll. Jewitt’s _Grave-Mounds and
their Contents_, pp. 237 and 263.
The number of burials of the Early Iron Age that have been found in
Great Britain is extremely small as compared with those of the Ages of
Stone and Bronze. This would seem to indicate that the period between
the introduction of iron into this country and the commencement of the
Roman occupation cannot have been very long; and that if the new metal
was brought in by a foreign invasion rather than by peaceful commercial
intercourse, nothing like the extermination of the native inhabitants,
who used bronze and cremated their dead, can have taken place.
As we have seen, a large proportion of the sepulchral remains of the
Early Iron Age have been derived from Yorkshire; but other instances
have come to light in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Kent, Gloucestershire,
Devon, and Cornwall.
The Rev. Mr. Pegge has given an account in the _Archæologia_[118]
of the opening of a tumulus on Garratt’s Piece, Middleton Common,
Derbyshire, a mile and a half south-east of Arbelows, and ten miles
south-east of Buxton. The body had been laid on the surface of the
ground, lying east and west. With it were found one of the circular
enamelled discs to which reference will be made subsequently; a shallow
basin of thin brass, much broken and crushed; and part of the iron umbo
of a shield.
[118] Vol. ix., p. 189: letter read May 8th, 1788; and T. Bateman’s
_Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire_, p. 24.
At Benty Grange, in Derbyshire, eight miles south-east of Buxton, on
the road to Ashbourne, and one mile north-west of Arbelows, Mr. Thomas
Bateman[119] excavated a barrow, about 2 feet high, surrounded by a
fosse. The body had all decayed, except the hair; but in the spot
where it had been deposited was a remarkable assemblage of relics,
consisting of a leathern cup mounted with silver round the edge, and
having wheel- or cross-shaped silver ornaments round the bowl; three
circular enamelled discs of the same class as those from the Middleton
Common tumulus previously described; an iron helmet surmounted by the
figure of a hog of iron with bronze eyes, having a small silver cross
inlaid on the nasal; a buckle; fragments of chains, etc. This burial,
presenting some Celtic characteristics, belongs to a late period,
possibly even after the Roman occupation.
Two Early Iron Age burials are recorded as having been discovered in
Staffordshire, one at Alstonfield, the other at Barlaston. The barrow
near Alstonfield, called Steep Lowe,[120] was composed of loose stones,
and was 50 feet in diameter, and 15 feet high. The Iron Age interment
was a secondary one, the tumulus having been made originally in the
Bronze or Stone Age. The body was laid on its back; and amongst the
grave-goods were a spear-head, a lance-head, and a knife (all of iron),
some fragments of a highly ornamented drinking-cup, a stud of amber,
and Roman coins of Constantine and Tetricus.
The burial at Barlaston,[121] unlike the one just described, was not
in a mound, but in a grave, 7 feet long by 2 feet wide, by 1 foot 3
inches deep, cut in the solid red sandstone rock. With the body were
associated a beautifully ornamented flat bronze ring of Late-Celtic
character; three circular, enamelled discs of the type found in the
barrow on Middleton Moor; some fragments of a bronze bowl, which Mr.
Ll. Jewitt erroneously conjectured to have formed portions of a helmet;
and blades of an iron sword and knife.
[119] _Ten Years’ Diggings_, p. 28.
[120] Bateman’s _Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire_, p. 76.
[121] Ll. Jewitt’s _Grave-Mounds and their Contents_, p. 258; and
_Archæologia_, vol. lvi., p. 44.
[Illustration: BRONZE MIRROR FROM BIRDLIP, GLOUCESTERSHIRE; NOW IN THE
GLOUCESTER MUSEUM
_R. W. Dugdale photo._]
No discovery of sepulchral remains belonging to the Late-Celtic
period surpasses in interest that made in 1879, between Birdlip[122]
and Crickley, on the Cotteswold Hills, seven miles south-east of
Gloucester, both on account of the completeness of the series of
objects buried with the deceased, and the extreme beauty of some of
them as works of art.
Whilst repairing the road, Joseph Barnfield unearthed three skeletons
interred with the feet to the south, in graves protected by thin slabs
of stone placed on edge. The central skeleton was that of a female, and
those on each side males. The following grave-goods were associated
with the female: a bronze bowl (laid on the face of the deceased); a
silver fibula plated with gold; a necklace consisting of thirteen amber
beads, two jet beads, and one marble bead; a tubular brass armlet; a
brass key-handle; a bronze knife-handle ornamented with a beast’s head,
having small knobs at the ends of the horns; and last, but not least, a
superb bronze mirror.
Another very similar find of skeletons in graves formed of stones
placed on edge was made in 1833 at Trelan Bahow,[123] in the parish of
St. Keverne, in Cornwall, ten miles south-east of Helston. With one
of the skeletons was a beautiful bronze mirror, now in the British
Museum.[122] See John Bellows, in _Trans. of Bristol and Gloucestershire
Archæol. Soc._, vol. v., p. 137. The objects found are now in the
Gloucester Museum.
[123] See J. Jope Rodgers in _Archæol. Journ._, vol. xxx., p. 267.
Sepulchral deposits of the same period, which have also yielded
mirrors, were brought to light in the course of military works at
Mount Batten,[124] near Plymouth, in the spring of 1865. The burials,
however, in this case were not in stone-lined graves near the surface,
but in pits from 4 feet to 4 feet 6 inches deep, excavated in the
disintegrated rock. In addition to a bronze mirror and the handles of
two others, the following objects were obtained: two jointed bronze
armlets, two plain bronze armlets, four fibulæ, three bronze rings, a
bronze cup, an iron dagger, and a pair of shears, black pottery, and
fragments of glass. Ancient British coins had been found previously at
Mount Batten,[125] indicating a settlement here, perhaps in the first
century B.C.
The exploration of the Late-Celtic urn-field at Aylesford,[126] in
Kent, three miles north-west of Maidstone, by Dr. Arthur Evans, has
been the means of extending our knowledge of the art of this period in
a most unexpected manner, and has supplied the missing links between
the culture of Britain in the first three or four centuries B.C.,
and that of La Tène on the Continent, which in its turn can be shown
to have been strongly influenced by the civilisation of the ancient
Venetian country at the head of the Adriatic.[127] The shape of the
tall, cordoned, pedestalled vases, and other peculiarities of the
pottery from Aylesford, were things entirely unknown to archæologists
previously, and enable a distinction now to be drawn between the
fictile ware of the Late-Celtic period and that of the Romano-British
period. The discovery also of bronze objects of Italo-Greek manufacture
of the second century B.C., associated with Late-Celtic burials,
clearly indicates that there must have been a much more intimate
trade-intercourse between Britain and the southern parts of Europe, in
pre-Roman times, than has hitherto been suspected.
[124] See J. Spence Bate in _Archæologia_, vol. xl., p. 500.
[125] Sir J. Evans’ _Ancient British Coins_, pp. 72 and 106.
[126] _Archæologia_, vol. lii., p. 315.
[127] Dr. Arthur J. Evans’ third Rhind Lecture on the “Origins of
Celtic Art,” as reported in the _Scotsman_, December 14th, 1895.
The Late-Celtic urn-field at Aylesford was uncovered in 1886, at
Messrs. Silas Wagon and Son’s gravel-pit, in the course of removing the
surface earth which here overlies the old river-deposits to a depth of
3 feet or so. One of the first burial-pits which attracted attention
was circular, and about 3 feet 6 inches deep, the sides and bottom
being coated with a kind of chalky compound. In the pit were found a
bronze _situla_, or pail, splendidly ornamented with repoussé work in
the Late-Celtic style, and containing calcined bones; an _œnochoe_,
or wine-jug; and _patella_, or shallow pan, of imported Italo-Greek
fabric; fragments of a second _situla_; a bronze fibula; and fragments
of pottery.
From another grave, about 1 foot 6 inches deep, situated 200 yards
north-west of Aylesford Church, was obtained a bronze-plated tankard
with two handles, of the same class as the Trawsfynydd tankard,
surrounded by a circle of five or six earthenware vases, one of these
being the finest pedestalled urn collected from the site. All the
antiquities from Aylesford are now in the British Museum.
_Remains of the Early Iron Age found on Inhabited or Fortified
Sites._—Next in importance to the sepulchral remains, as affording
indications of the culture of the Early Iron Age, come the remains
derived from inhabited or from fortified sites. And it may be remarked
in passing that it is impossible to separate the inhabited from the
fortified sites, because in these early times the state of the country
was so unsettled that no isolated place of residence, village or town,
could afford to do without some means of defence, either natural or
artificial.
The inhabited site which bids fair to rival all others in the varied
nature of the relics obtained from it, and the light they help to throw
on the arts and industries of the Early Iron Age in Great Britain, is
the Glastonbury Marsh Village. As the explorations begun by Mr. Arthur
Bulleid, F.S.A., in 1892 are still in progress, it would be premature
to pass an opinion upon the finds until they are completely exhausted.
For an account of what has been already discovered there, the reader is
referred to Mr. Bulleid’s paper on the subject, which appeared recently
in the _Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archæological Society_.[128] A
bronze bowl is there illustrated which seems to be of the same kind as
those derived from the graves, but it is ornamented with raised bosses
instead of with circular plaques of enamel. The handle of a mirror,
like those from the graves, was also found at the Glastonbury Marsh
Village in 1896.
From the exploration of this settlement we have obtained a knowledge
of the peaceful pursuits and methods of life of the Late-Celtic
inhabitants, which could never have been derived from their sepulchral
remains. We now know that they were expert potters, wood-carvers,
coopers, and weavers,[129] applying the same beautiful flamboyant forms
of decoration that are characteristic of the metalwork of the period to
earthenware and wooden vessels. The long-handled weaving-combs, which
are so well known in the Pictish towers, or _brochs_, of the north of
Scotland, have been found here also. Amongst the iron implements was
a billhook for lopping the branches of trees—a most useful appliance
for clearing away undergrowth in forests, procuring firewood, and
building wattled structures. Unbaked ovoid clay pellets have been dug
up in hundreds. These were probably sling-stones, indicating that the
inhabitants must have been expert fowlers.
[128] Vol. xl. (1893).
[129] Ornamental weaving was, no doubt, practised. Although we have
no absolute proof of this, the La Tène helmet from Gorge-Meillet
(Marne), previously mentioned, has a sort of swastika pattern upon it,
suggestive of a textile origin.
The dwellings appear to have been circular or oval wattled huts, the
rudeness of which stands out in marked contrast to the high artistic
taste and technical skill of the inhabitants.
A few of the crannogs of Scotland[130] and Ireland,[131] whose
structure is somewhat analogous to the Glastonbury Marsh Village, have
also yielded Late-Celtic objects, but not in such quantities as to give
evidence of permanent occupation over a considerable period.
Hunsbury,[132] two miles south-west of Northampton, which has been
called the English “La Tène,” is a good example of a Late-Celtic
_oppidum_. The camp is of oval shape in plan, measuring 560 feet by
445 feet, and defended by a single earthen rampart and ditch. The area
enclosed is about four acres. Between 1880 and 1886 the whole of the
interior was excavated to obtain ironstone, which lay in a bed 12 feet
thick, at a depth of 7 feet 6 inches below the natural surface of the
ground.
[130] At Lochlee and at Lochspouts, Ayrshire; Dowalton, Wigtownshire;
and Hyndford, Lanarkshire (see Dr. R. Munro’s _Lake-Dwellings of
Scotland_).
[131] Lisnacroghera and Craigywarren, Co. Antrim; Strokestown and
Ardakillen, Co. Roscommon; Lagore, Co. Meath; and Ballinderry, Co.
Westmeath (see Wood Martin’s _Lake-Dwellings of Ireland_).
[132] See Sir Henry Dryden in _Associated Architectural Societies’
Reports_, vol. xviii. (1885), p. 53.
In the course of the excavations about three hundred refuse-pits,
averaging 5 feet in diameter, and dug in the soil overlying the
ironstone, were discovered. Amongst the contents of the pits were two
bronze sword-sheaths, one of them highly ornamented in the Late-Celtic
style;[133] three fibulæ, bridle-bits and cheek-pieces of bone, a
chariot-wheel, iron saws, knives, spear-heads, etc.; one hundred and
fifty quernstones, reckoning the upper and lower stones separately;
eight spindle-whorls, long-handled weaving-combs, and pottery
with Late-Celtic decoration. All these antiquities are now in the
Northampton Museum.
The camp on Mount Caburn, two miles south of Lewes, in Sussex, explored
by General Pitt-Rivers[134] in 1878, seems to have been an _oppidum_
of the same class as that at Hunsbury, and the relics indicated the
same kind of culture. The pits found at Mount Caburn were some of
them oval, and others oblong, 5 to 7 feet in diameter, and 5 feet
deep. The objects obtained from the pits included ornamental pottery,
long-handled wearing-combs, an iron billhook like the one from the
Glastonbury Marsh Village, and three ancient British tin coins.
[133] Engraved in the _Archæologia_, vol. lii., p. 762.
[134] _Archæologia_, vol. xlvi., p. 423.
The fine collection of Late-Celtic horse-trappings, etc., now in the
Duke of Northumberland’s private Museum at Alnwick Castle, was found
in 1844, in a pit about 5 feet deep, within an earthen entrenchment at
Stanwick, in Yorkshire, seven miles north of Richmond.[135]
A few Late-Celtic objects have been derived from Roman towns[136]
and stations[137] in England; and also from the _weems_,[138] or
underground houses, and the _brochs_,[139] or Pictish towers of
Scotland.
The bone-caves which were the permanent habitations of Palæolithic
and Neolithic man in Britain served as temporary places of refuge
for the Brit-Welsh population during the troublous times immediately
succeeding the Roman evacuation of this country. Gildas’ account of
the Britons leaving their houses and lands, and taking shelter in the
mountains, forests and caves, whence they were able successfully to
repel the inroads of the Picts and Scots,[140] is fully borne out by
archæological research.[141]
[135] _Memoirs of the Meeting of the Archæological Institute of
Great Britain and Ireland at York in 1846_, p. 88; Dr. J. C. Bruce’s
_Catalogue of the Antiquities at Alnwick_, p. 38.
[136] As in Silchester. These have not been illustrated, but are to be
seen in the Reading Museum.
[137] As in Æsica (Great Chesters) (_Archæologia Æliana_, 2nd ser.,
vol. xvii., p. xxviii.).
[138] As at Castle Newe, Aberdeenshire, and Grange of Conan,
Forfarshire (see Dr. J. Anderson’s _Scotland in Pagan Times: Iron Age_,
pp. 141 and 160).
[139] As at Okstrow and at Harray in Orkney (_Ibid._, pp. 219, 236).
[140] Gildas, xvii.; Bede’s _Eccl. Hist._, bk. i., chap. xiv.
[141] Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins’ _Cave-Hunting_, p. 106.
The principal caves which have yielded relics of this period are
Kirkhead[142] Cave in Lancashire; the Victoria,[143] Kelko,[144]
and Dowkerbottom[145] Caves in Yorkshire; Poole’s[146] Hole and the
Deepdale[147] Cave in Derbyshire; Thor’s[148] Cave in Staffordshire;
and Kent’s[149] Cavern in Devonshire.
The character of the antiquities derived from the caves does not differ
materially from that of the remains from the crannogs and the _oppida_,
although a few things of peculiar form have been found in some of
the caves, such as the spoon-shaped bone-pins from the Victoria and
Dowkerbottom Caves, and the bone whistles from Thor’s Cave. The fibulæ
from the Victoria and the Deepdale Caves are of remarkable beauty.
Evidence of spinning is afforded by the long-handled comb from Thor’s
Cave, and the numerous spindle-whorls from others. The discovery of
Roman coins and Samian ware indicate the period at which the Brit-Welsh
sought refuge in these recesses of the rock.
_Hoards of Late-Celtic Objects purposely concealed._—The
horse-trappings found in an excavation at the bottom of one of
several oblong pits, 7 feet long by 3 feet wide by 4 feet deep, at
Hagbourne Hill[150] in Berkshire, two miles south of Didcot, seem to
have been purposely hidden; as also the horse-trappings which were
discovered in the chink of the rock by quarrymen at Hamdon Hill[151]
in Somersetshire, five miles west of Yeovil. Another instance of
intentional concealment is afforded by the beautiful bronze mirror that
was found, with other ornamental pieces of bronze, wrapped in a cloth,
and covered by the upper stone of a quern, at Balmaclellan,[152] two
miles north-east of New Galloway, Kirkcudbrightshire.
[142] Three miles south of Cartmel, on the shore of Morecambe Bay
(_Cave-Hunting_, p. 125).
[143] A mile and a half north-east of Settle (_Cave-Hunting_, p.
81; and H. Eckroyd Smith in _Trans. of Hist. Soc. of Lancashire and
Cheshire_, vol. for 1866, p. 199; and Roach Smith’s _Collectanea
Antiqua_, vol. i., p. 67).
[144] Overlooking Giggleswick, one mile north-west of Settle.
[145] Between Kilnsey and Arncliffe, ten miles north-east of Settle
(_Proc. Geol. and Polytech. Soc. of W. Riding of Yorksh._ for 1859, p.
45).
[146] A mile south-west of Buxton (_Cave-Hunting_, p. 126).
[147] Three miles south-east of Buxton (_Derbyshire Archæol. Soc.
Trans._, vol. xiii., p. 196).
[148] Near Grindon, eight miles north-west of Ashbourne (_Reliquary_,
vol. vi., p. 201, and _Trans. Midland Sci. Assoc._, 1864-5, p. 1).
[149] One mile north-west of Torquay. There is a fragment of pottery,
with Late-Celtic ornament upon it, from Kent’s Cavern, in the British
Museum.
[150] _Archæologia_, vol. xvi., p. 348.
[151] _Ibid._, vol. xxi., p. 39.
[152] Dr. J. Anderson’s _Scotland in Pagan Times: Iron Age_, p. 126.
_Late-Celtic Objects accidentally lost._—Besides the Late-Celtic
objects which have been dropped by their original owners on dry land,
and got covered with the soil and thus been preserved, it is remarkable
in how many cases they have been lost whilst crossing or navigating
rivers, especially the Thames,[153] Witham,[154] Tyne,[155] and
Tweed.[156]
[153] Shield (_Archæologia_, vol. xxiii., p. 96); helmet (in the
British Museum); fibula (_Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot._, 2nd ser., vol. xv.,
p. 191).
[154] Shield (_Archæologia_, vol. xxiii., p. 96); sword-sheath (J. C.
Bruce’s _Catal. of Alnwick Mus._); daggers (Kemble’s _Horæ Ferales_,
pl. 17).
[155] Fibulæ (_Illustrated Archæologist_, vol. ii., p. 157).
[156] Sword-sheath (_Archæologia_, vol. xlv., p. 45).
FINDS OF CELTIC COINS IN BRITAIN
The earliest native coinage of Britain belongs to the Iron Age, and
dates from 200 to 150 B.C. Sir John Evans has collected together all
the known facts relating to the numismatics of this period in his
_Coins of the Ancient Britons_, and gives excellent maps showing the
geographical distribution of the finds. Prof. John Rhys, in his _Celtic
Britain_ (p. 19), says:—
“The coinage of Britain had been modelled in the first
instance after that of Gaul, which, in its turn, can be
traced to the Phocæan Greeks of Massilia or Marseilles,
through whom the continental Gauls became acquainted in
the latter part of the fourth century before Christ with
the gold stater of Philip II. of Macedon. This was a fine
coin, weighing 133 grains, and having on one side the head
of Apollo wreathed with laurel, while the other showed a
charioteer in a biga, with Philip’s name underneath. It was
imitated by the Gauls fairly well at first, but as it got
further removed from the original in time and place, the
figures degenerated into very curious and fantastic forms.”
Before the landing of Julius Cæsar in Britain in 55 B.C. the Cantii,
the Dutoriges, the Catuvelauni, and the Trinovantes each had coinages
of their own, but entirely devoid of lettering. The lettered coins
begin with those of Commios, dating from a period some time before 30
B.C., after which come those of his three sons—Tincommios, Verica, and
Eppillos. Prof. J. Rhys[157] says:—
“The coins of Commios, and some of the earlier ones of
Tincommios, continued the degenerate imitations of the
Macedonian stater without showing any Roman influence; but
it was not long after Augustus became emperor, in the year
30, that Tincommios copied the Latin formula, in which the
former styled himself _Augustus Divi Filius_, or the
son of his adoptive father, Julius Cæsar, who had now got to
be officially called _Divus_, or the god. So Tincommios
had inscribed on his money the legend _Tinc. Commi F._,
or even shorter abbreviations, meaning Tincommios son of
Commios; and the grotesque traits derived from the stater
soon disappear in favour of classical designs of various
kinds, proving very distinctly that the influence of Roman
art was beginning to make itself felt in the south of Britain.”
The coins which have been assigned to the Dobunni (although their exact
date, place of issue, and sequence are somewhat doubtful) belong to the
series of the Macedonian stater, and show hardly any trace of Roman
influence. Their probable date[158] seems to be between A.D. 1 and 41.
[157] _Celtic Britain_, p. 25.
[158] _Ibid._, p. 35.
There was no native British coinage either in Scotland, Wales, or
Ireland, and in England the finds do not extend further north than
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The greater part of the finds lie to the south of
a line drawn from Wroxeter to the Wash, and east of a line drawn from
the same place to Exeter. The geographical distribution of the finds is
clearly shown on the map given in Sir John Evans’ _Coins of the Ancient
Britons_.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FINDS OF OBJECTS OF THE LATE-CELTIC PERIOD
IN GREAT BRITAIN[159]
In the present state of our knowledge no very satisfactory deductions
can be made from a study of the geographical distribution of the finds
of this period, partly because the discoveries have been so imperfectly
recorded (more especially in Ireland), and partly because a large
number of sites which are probably Late-Celtic still remain unexplored.
Another difficulty to be reckoned with is that it is only within
the last few years that archæologists have been able to distinguish
between what is purely Celtic and what is Romano-British. Indeed, in
many cases, in the absence of coins or other evidence, it is quite
impossible to determine whether particular finds are of pre-Roman,
Roman, or even post-Roman, as the Late-Celtic style of decoration was
in vogue throughout the whole of the Pagan Iron Age in Britain, and
survived in remote districts after the introduction of Christianity.
Then, again, the fact must not be lost sight of that the greater
frequency of finds in some districts than others can be accounted for
by their having been covered with lakes where crannogs could be easily
constructed, or on the limestone formation, where rock-shelters and
caves suitable for temporary places of refuge already existed.
[159] A complete list of the finds as far as recorded is given in the
_Archæologia Cambrensis_, 5th ser., vol. xiii., p. 321.
We will take the geographical distribution of the sepulchral remains
first. It is most remarkable that up to the present no Late-Celtic
burials have been recorded in Wales, Scotland, or Ireland, although
finds of objects of the period have been frequent in all three of these
countries. The earlier Bronze Age burial customs may, of course, have
survived after the introduction of iron, or interments of the Iron Age
may have passed unrecognised owing to the rapid decay of the metal
implements accompanying the body.
In England the greatest number of Late-Celtic burials have been found
in the south-east corner of Yorkshire, near Beverley and Driffield. In
most cases the tumuli covering the graves are in large groups, those
at “Danes’ Graves,” near Kilham, numbering 178; those at Arras, near
Market Weighton, 200; and those in Scorborough Park, near Beverley,
170. The people to whom these extensive cemeteries belonged probably
invaded Britain from the Continent some few centuries before the Roman
occupation, and landing at the mouth of the Humber, settled permanently
on the east coast of Yorkshire. The people in question had long skulls,
and buried their dead in a doubled-up attitude without cremation, which
has suggested another less probable theory that they were the direct
descendants of the more ancient Neolithic inhabitants of Yorkshire.
In Derbyshire one undoubted Late-Celtic burial has been found[160] and
there are a few others which seem to belong to the transition towards
the end of the Roman occupation or the beginning of the Saxon Pagan
period.[161]
[160] In Deepdale.
[161] At Benty Grange, and on Middleton Moor.
In Kent[162] and Devonshire[163] cemeteries containing a large number
of graves have been brought to light.
Isolated burials have been found in single localities in each of
the counties of Stafford,[164] Gloucester,[165] Dorset,[166] and
Cornwall.[167]
The following lists show the geographical distribution of the inhabited
or fortified sites of the Late-Celtic period in Great Britain:—
[162] At Aylesford.
[163] At Mount Batten.
[164] At Barlaston.
[165] At Birdlip.
[166] In the Isle of Portland.
[167] At Trelan Bahow.
CAVES
YORKSHIRE. Dowkerbottom Hole, Arncliffe.
Victoria Cave, Settle.
Kelko Cave, Settle.
LANCASHIRE. Kirkhead Cave.
DERBYSHIRE. Thirst House, Deepdale.
Poole’s Hole, near Buxton.
STAFFORDSHIRE. Thor’s Cave, Dovedale.
DEVONSHIRE. Kent’s Cavern, Torquay.
LAKE-DWELLINGS AND CRANNOGS
SOMERSETSHIRE. Glastonbury Marsh Village.
LANARKSHIRE. Hyndford Crannog.
AYRSHIRE. Lochlee Crannog.
Lochspouts Crannog.
WIGTOWNSHIRE. Dowalton Crannog.
CO. ANTRIM. Lisnacroghera Crannog.
Craigywarren Crannog.
CO. ROSCOMMON. Strokestown Crannog.
Ardakillen Crannog.
CO. WESTMEATH. Ballinderry Crannog.
CO. MEATH. Lagore Crannog.
PICTISH TOWERS
ORKNEY. Broch of Harray.
Broch of Okstrow.
CAITHNESS. Broch of Kettleburn.
SELKIRKSHIRE. Broch of Torwoodlee.
UNDERGROUND HOUSES
ABERDEENSHIRE. Castle Newe.
FORFARSHIRE. Grange of Conan.
CELTIC _OPPIDA_ AND FORTIFIED VILLAGES
YORKSHIRE. Stanwick.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. Hunsbury.
KENT. Bigbury Camp.
SUSSEX. Mount Caburn.
BERKSHIRE. Northfield Farm, Long Wittenham.
DORSETSHIRE. Hod Hill.
Hambledown Hill.
Maiden Castle.
Rotherley.
SOMERSETSHIRE. Ham Hill.
NAIRNSHIRE. Burghead.
PERTHSHIRE. Abernethy.
AYRSHIRE. Seamill Fort.
CARDIGANSHIRE. Castell Nadolig.
CARNARVONSHIRE. Treceiri.
ROMANO-BRITISH STATIONS AND TOWNS
NORTHUMBERLAND. Great Chesters (Æsica).
Risingham (Habitancum).
WESTMORELAND. Brough.
Kirkby Thore.
LANCASHIRE. Ribchester.
YORKSHIRE. New Malton.
NORTHAMPTON. Wellingborough.
SURREY. Farley Heath.
HAMPSHIRE. Silchester.
PERTHSHIRE. Ardoch.
DUMFRIES. Birrenswark.
A study of the above lists discloses some interesting facts. It will
be noticed that the caves are confined exclusively to the limestone
districts of the counties of York, Lancaster, Derby, Stafford, and
Devon. The lake-dwellings are found chiefly in the south-west of
Scotland and the north-east and central part of Ireland, there being
only one example in England and none in Wales. The _brochs_ and _weems_
(or underground houses) are Pictish structures, and therefore do
not occur anywhere except in Scotland, chiefly in its north-eastern
counties. The Celtic _oppida_ are most common in the south of England
where the Belgic settlements predominated, but there are a few examples
in Scotland. Probably a more systematic examination of the hill-forts
throughout Great Britain would show that those in which large areas are
enclosed by double and triple ramparts of stone or earth[168] belong
to the Late-Celtic period. At the present time practically nothing is
known as to the age of the stone forts and earthen raths in Ireland or
Wales.
Most of the Romano-British fortified sites which have yielded works of
art of Late-Celtic type, although executed under Roman influence, are
in the south of Scotland or in the north of England, on or near the
Wall of Hadrian, or along the lines of the military roads leading to
it.[169] At Farley Heath, near Guildford, Surrey, numerous specimens
of Kelto-Roman enamelled bronze objects have been found, and this site
would no doubt produce a plentiful harvest of antiquities of a similar
nature if properly explored. The great difficulty, however, as we have
already pointed out in dealing with the Romano-British sites, is to
determine to what extent the style of the art of the objects found
there can be shown to be definitely Celtic. In our lists we have only
included sites from which have been procured antiquities exhibiting
Celtic enamel and flamboyant ornament, or fibulæ of known Celtic type.
[168] I refer here to defensive works in which the whole of the summit
of the hill is enclosed. These forts are usually of approximately oval
shape, and follow the conformation of the hill.
[169] As, for instance, at Risingham (Habitancum) on the road going
north from the Wall into Scotland, and at Brough and Kirkby Thore on
the road from York to Carlisle, which passes through upper Teesdale,
and thence into the valley of the Eden.
If to the sepulchral deposits and inhabited sites just described
be added all the miscellaneous finds of objects accidentally lost
or purposely concealed, it will be observed that there is hardly
a single county throughout England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland
which cannot show one or two such Late-Celtic finds at least. Some
counties are nevertheless richer than others,[170] as, for instance,
Aberdeen, Forfar, Perth, Ayr, Kirkcudbright, and Dumfries, in Scotland;
Antrim, Meath, and Roscommon, in Ireland; Denbighshire, in Wales; and
Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Suffolk, Middlesex,
Kent, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berks, Wilts, Dorset, Hants, and
Somerset, in England.
[170] _i.e._ have from four to ten localities where Late-Celtic finds
have been made.
EVIDENCE AS TO DATES OF FINDS OF OBJECTS OF THE EARLY IRON AGE IN GREAT
BRITAIN
The finds of objects of the Early Iron Age to which an approximate date
can be assigned are as follows:—
(1) Finds associated with burials of a particular kind.
(2) Finds associated with objects of the Bronze Age.
(3) Finds associated with objects of early Hallstatt type.
(4) Finds associated with fibulæ or other objects of La Tène type.
(5) Finds of objects associated with imported articles of
Græco-Italic fabric.
(6) Finds of objects associated with Ancient British coins.
(7) Finds of objects, (_a_) on Romano-British inhabited or fortified
sites, (_b_) associated with Roman coins, and (_c_) associated
with articles of Roman manufacture.
There are at least three different methods of burial characteristic of
the Late-Celtic period in Great Britain.
(1) Uncremated burials in excavated graves beneath barrows
in which the deceased is generally found with his
chariot and horses, as at Arras, Yorkshire.
(2) Cremated burials in pits without any exterior mound, the
ashes being contained in cinerary urns and the burials
in groups, as at Aylesford, Kent.
(3) Uncremated burials in graves formed of slabs of stone
placed on edge, without any exterior mound, as at
Birdlip, Gloucestershire.
The first class of burials correspond with those at Berru and
Gorge-Meillet, Department of the Marne, and probably belong to the same
period as these earlier Gaulish interments which, from the associated
Greek and Etruscan relics,[171] are known on the Continent to belong to
the third, fourth, and fifth centuries B.C.[172]
The second, or Aylesford urn-field type of burial, is dated by
associated vessels of Italo-Greek fabric at from 200 to 150 B.C.[173]
Implements of the Bronze Age have been occasionally discovered with
objects of Late-Celtic character, as at Hagbourn Hill,[174] Berks,
where a Late-Celtic bridle-bit and harness-rings were associated with
some small spear-heads and a socketed celt; and at Hounslow,[175]
Middlesex, where three figures of boars and two of other animals were
found with celts and gouges of the Bronze Age.
[171] Such as the Græcwyl bronze vase now in the Berne Museum; the
bronze _œnochoe_ and Etruscan cup from Somme-Bionne (Marne); and the
two-handled cup from Rodenbach, Bavaria (described and illustrated in
A. Bertrand’s _Archéologie Celtique et Gauloise_, pp. 328 to 347).
[172] Arthur Evans in _Archæologia_, vol. lii., p. 72.
[173] _Ibid._, vol. lii., p. 66.
[174] _Archæologia_, vol. xvi., p. 348.
[175] _Proc. Soc. Ant. Lond._, 2nd ser., vol. iii., p. 90.
Up to the present time, no specimen has yet been found in this country
of the great iron sword of Hallstatt type, with its massive ivory
handle encrusted with amber.[176] Of the smaller Hallstatt sword with
an iron blade and a bronze handle, having antennæ-like projections at
the top,[177] one specimen from the Thames is to be seen in the British
Museum, and there are about half a dozen others in the Museum of the
Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.
Tall vessels made of thin sheets of bronze riveted together and
furnished with two round ring-handles at the top have been found in
Ireland (at Montiaghs,[178] Co. Armagh; and Dowris,[179] King’s Co.)
and in Scotland (at Cardross,[180] Dumbartonshire); the form of these
vessels shows that they are akin to the situlæ of the late Hallstatt or
early La Tène period on the Continent.
In the instances where other objects have been associated either with
the swords _à antennes_ or situlæ in Great Britain they have been
of purely Bronze Age type, showing that the Hallstatt period on the
Continent was earlier than the Late-Celtic period in this country.
[176] A. Bertrand and S. Reinach’s _Les Celtes dans les Vallées du Pô
et du Danube_, p. 125.
[177] _Ibid._, p. 85.
[178] _Jour. Royal Soc. Ant. Ireland_, ser. 5, vol. vii., p. 437.
Another example found in Ireland is figured in Sir W. Wylde’s _Catal.
Mus. R.I.A._, p. 531.
[179] Now in the British Museum. Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements_, p.
410.
[180] R. Munro’s _Prehistoric Scotland_, p. 40.
The forms of the fibulæ associated with Late-Celtic finds afford
specially valuable evidence as to date. The pre-Roman, or La Tène, type
of fibula was made in one piece on the same principle as the modern
safety-pin, and therefore differed from the Roman Provincial harp, or
bow-shaped fibula, in which the pin was separate from the back and
worked on a hinge. Fibulæ of the earlier kind have been found with
Late-Celtic burials at Cowlam, Yorkshire; Aylesford, Kent; and Birdlip,
Gloucestershire; and on inhabited and fortified sites at Hod Hill, and
Rotherley, Dorset. The fibulæ from the Stamford Hill Cemetery, near
Plymouth, and the Polden Hill hoard of horse-trappings belong to the
later class. As the forms of the different fibulæ will be discussed
subsequently, no more need be said on the subject here.
Ancient British coins have been found near the Late-Celtic cemeteries
at Aylesford,[181] Kent, and Stamford Hill,[182] near Plymouth;
also within the fortifications of the Late-Celtic _oppida_ at Mount
Caburn,[183] near Lewes, Sussex, and Hod Hill,[184] near Blandford,
Dorset. General Pitt-Rivers came across ancient British coins
during his excavations on the site of the Romano-British village at
Rotherley[185] in Cranbourne Chase, Dorset, and numerous specimens
(especially of the coins of Verica, one of the three sons of Commios)
have turned up from time to time at Farley Heath,[186] near Guildford,
Surrey.
[181] _Archæologia_, vol. lii., p. 315.
[182] _Ibid._, vol. xl., p. 500.
[183] _Ibid._, vol. xlvi., p. 423.
[184] _Archæol. Jour._, vol. lvii., p. 52.
[185] _Excavations in Cranbourne Chase_, vol. ii., p. 188.
[186] F. Martin Tupper’s _Farley Heath_, p. 10.
The Romano-British inhabited or fortified sites from which objects of
Late-Celtic character have been derived, have already been specified.
The following lists show the instances where Late-Celtic finds have
been associated with Roman coins or with objects of Roman manufacture:—
_Late-Celtic Finds associated with Roman Coins._
---------------------------+-----------------+----------------------
Place. | Nature of Find. | Date of Coins.
---------------------------+-----------------+----------------------
Victoria Cave, Settle, | Inhabited Site | Trajan to Constans,
Yorkshire | | A.D. 98-353.
Kelko Cave, Giggleswick, | Inhabited Site | (?)
Yorkshire | |
Dowkerbottom Cave, | Inhabited Site | Claudius Gothicus
Arncliffe, Yorkshire | | to Tetricus,
| | A.D. 268-273
Kirkhead Cave, Cartmel, | Inhabited Site | Domitian, A.D. 81-96
Lancashire | |
Poole’s Cavern, | Inhabited Site | (?)
Buxton | |
Thirst House, Deepdale, | Inhabited Site | Antoninus Pius to
Derbyshire | | Gallienus,
| | A.D. 138-268
Thor’s Cave, Staffordshire | Inhabited Site | (?)
Broch of Torwoodlee, | Fortified Tower | Vespasian, A.D. 69-79
Selkirkshire | |
Rotherley, Dorset | British Village | Trajan to Gallienus,
| | A.D. 98-268
Kirkby Thore, Westmoreland | | Vespasian to Severus,
| | A.D. 69-211
Hod Hill, Dorset | Fortified Site | Augustus to Trajan,
| | B.C. 27-A.D. 117
Æsica, Northumberland | Romano-British | Mark Antony to
| Station | Magnentius, B.C.
| | 32-A.D. 353
Farley Heath | British Village | (?)
Alstonfield, Staffordshire | Burial | Tetricus and
| | Constantine,
| | A.D. 268-337
Ham Hill, Somerset | Fortified Site | Valerian to
| | Theodosius I.,
| | A.D. 379-395
Westhall, Suffolk | Horse-trappings | Faustina
Chorley, Lancashire | Fibulæ | Hadrian, A.D. 117-138
Backworth, Northumberland | Fibulæ | Antoninus Pius,
| | A.D. 138-161
Kingsholm, | Horse-trappings | Claudius, A.D. 41-54
Gloucestershire | |
Castlethorpe, Bucks | Silver Armlet | Verus, A.D. 161-169
---------------------------+-----------------+----------------------
_Late-Celtic Finds associated with Samian Ware._
Place. Nature of Find.
Broch of Okstrow, Orkney Pictish Tower.
Lochlee Crannog.
Lochspouts Crannog.
Settle, Yorkshire Cave.
Deepdale, Derbyshire Cave.
Thor’s Cave, Staffordshire Cave.
Isle of Portland Burial.
Westhall, Suffolk Horse-trappings.
_Late-Celtic Finds associated with Objects of Roman Manufacture._
---------------------------+-----------------+-------------------
| Nature of |
Place. | Late-Celtic | Class of Roman
| Find. | Object.
---------------------------+-----------------+-------------------
Dowalton, Wigtownshire | Crannog | Saucepan
Stanhope, Peeblesshire | Armlet | Saucepan
Polden Hill, Somersetshire | Horse-trappings | Fibulæ
Stamford Hill, near | Cemetery | Fibulæ
Plymouth | |
Castlethorpe, Bucks | Armlet |
Æsica, Northumberland | Fibulæ | Silver necklace,
| | etc.
Hay Hill, Cambridgeshire | Fire-dog | Amphora
Mount Bures, Essex | Fire-dog | Six amphoræ,
| | glass, etc.
Stanfordbury, Bedfordshire | Fire-dog | Bronze jug, Samian
| | ware, etc.
---------------------------+-----------------+-------------------