A HISTORY OF LONDON Many glass jugs of the massive kind found in Blomfield Street may be seen in museums, and were apparently the commonest form of cinerary urn in this material ; but other forms have also been found in London. A specimen with one handle, found in Spitalfields, and presented by Wren to the Royal Society/^ was probably of jug form, but other glass vessels from that site mentioned by Stow were apparently of smaller dimensions and not used as cineraries (p. 15)." A square glass bottle used as a cinerary was found in Milk Street (Plan A, 28), and a glass amphora at Allhallows Barking"* (Plan A, 29), while a vase of green glass (fig. 2) 4 in. high now in the national collection still contains burnt bones and was found in Newgate Street (Plan A, 30) during 1851 near the remarkable series next to be considered. The discoveries made in 1881 during excavations on the site of premises till recently occupied by Messrs. J. Tylor & Sons in Warwick Square (Plan A, i) are among the most important in London and were admirably reported by Mr. Alfred Tylor, a member of the firm, to the Society of Antiquaries.^* A tinted diagram shows the section exposed to a depth of 24J ft., and the Roman level is clearly distinguishable 18 ft. to 19 ft. from the surface, separated from the debris of the fire of 1666 by 6 ft. of made earth. Another plan gives details of the site with reference to the prison, the Roman Wall, and Warwick Square, and shows the exact position of the various finds now to be noticed. They extended over an area about 40 by 32 ft. just to the north of the opening into Warwick Square from the premises in question, and due east of Messrs. Tylor's foundry. The most striking object recovered was a magnificent two-handled vase" cut from a solid block of serpentine and doubtless imported ready-made from Italy. This was closed by a conical cover of the same material, and measured 2 ft. 3 in. in height; it was evidently turned on a lathe. It was full of calcined bones and also contained a coin of Claudius (41—54), which suggests a date for the burial. Near this urn were four ossuaries of canister form, made of lead cast flat and bent into cylinders, the edges being joined without solder by means of the blow-pipe. One is ornamented by a band and crosses executed in the reel-pattern that occurs on Roman leaden coffins both here and in France. Between the moulded reel-pattern crosses are three applied panels represent- ing the Sun-god in a four-horse chariot," and inside the canister was a two-handled glass urn containing burnt bones. Another canister had pairs of concentric circles in relief at intervals round the body, this design occurring more often in Normandy ; and a third bears inside on the base an eight- rayed star*°^ cast in relief, that is no doubt justly considered a Mithraic emblem. Among the cinerary urns two were furnished with covers, and two pottery jugs were found with them. Coins ranging from 40-330 a.d. were also ^Parentarta,z6-J. " Unguent bottles (sometimes called lacrimatories) were also found in Camomile Street and Borough High Street associated with cinerary urns. '■ Guildhall C<J/. p. 76, 5 and I. "^ Jrch. xlviii, 221-48. ^^ Arch, xlviii, pi. xii, fig. 4 ; two leaden cists, the glass cinerary urn and the eight-rayed star are illustrated on the same plate, and .ill are now deposited in the British Museum. "A square leaden ossuary ornamented with a quadriga seems to have been found at Bohain, Dept. Aisne. "^ This s) mbol also occurs on a lead coffin from Syria, noticed below (p. 21), and cannot be a form of the Chi-Rho here. 10
