A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE cess. One, about half a mile north of the church, contained cinerary urns, spearheads, shield-bosses, knives and brooches, as well as several skeletons. Another, a quarter of a mile north-west of the church, gave similar results ; and remains from both sites are now in Northampton Museum. A small rough vase in the national collection is almost spherical, and has the rounded base marked with a cross, like several found at Stade, on the Elbe.^ This may be the impression of the stand on which it rested while being fired ; or if intended as an ornament may be compared with several examples of the prehistoric period, figured in a paper by Dr. Thurnam.'^ There is consequently no necessity to recognize the mark on the Brixworth urn as the Christian symbol, though the orientation might have shown both cemeteries to belong to the transition period. In February, 1864, some men who were employed in digging for stone on the side of a hill in Coneybury Hill Field at Holdenby came upon some fragments of pottery, some bones, a horse-shoe and two bronze brooches.' The vessels have since been restored, one of them being of rough clay with projections like rudimentary handles for suspension, the second having S-shaped and other impressed ornaments in a deep band above the shoulder. This latter was evidently a cinerary urn ; but in the following year the hill was again cut into and six distinct skeletons were found, one of which was in a perfect condition, and appeared to be that of a warrior. He lay as if he had been doubled up, his knees nearly touching his chin. Attached by rust to his head was the boss of a shield much decayed. The bodies did not lie in the east-and-west direction, but seemed to have been buried regardless of position. In all cases the bones were not more than a foot below the surface. Again in 1899 thirteen interments were uncovered within a com- paratively small area in the same locality. One of these was a crushed cinerary urn, with several fragments of burnt bone and a broken bronze hair-pin, but the rest were extended interments. It was again noticed that the bodies were not interred in any special direction, and in one case a female lay face downwards and rested on an earlier burial in another direction. By the side of two male skeletons were found spearheads of iron, and over the skull of one the large sharp-pointed boss of a shield with the iron handle beneath it, recalling the similar discovery in 1864. The nine female interments were rich in bead necklaces, mostly composed of glass and amber, and here, as in many Anglo-Saxon burials, was tound the melon-shaped bead of green glass-paste characteristic of the Roman period. The bronze brooches (figs. 6, 10, 12) were interesting as pre- senting more than one design not hitherto noted. In two or three instances they were three in number, one in the centre of the breast and the other two on the shoulders. A pair of ring brooches were 1 Journal of Arcba-ohgical Institute, vol. xii. p. 315. ^ Archaologia, vol. xliii. ' Figured in Miss Hartshorne's Memorlnh of HoUcnby, p. 6.
- Described in Athenaum, Nov. U, 1899.
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