ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS an ornament does not of itself prove the original owner a Christian, but without indulging too freely in speculation there seems enough evidence for the inclusion of the Cransley burials among those with the Christian orientation. Perhaps the most interesting relic from this site is a bronze bowl, the description of which of itself suggests a close connection be- tween the settlements at Cransley and Desborough. The bowl had a flat turn-over lip or rim, and was of thin metal, much corroded and broken ; there were traces of gilding in the interior, and a handle with a thickened flange projected horizontally from the rim. A comparison was instituted between this bowl and those found in the Roman cemetery at Irchester; but a closer parallel, apparently overlooked at the time, is the Desborough bowl which had been described by the same writer six years previously. This has been already referred to, and a comparison of the dimensions shows that the two vessels had the same proportions, and as they were found under similar circumstances the probability is that they were used by the same people for the same purposes. The form seems to be a reminiscence of a Roman pattern, but this is not surprising, as other indications^ point to a marked survival of Roman civilization in the county when other parts of Britain, more exposed to the sea or with more fertile soil, were being overrun by the invading Teuton. To the same group certainly belongs Islip, which has yielded a few interesting objects of the Anglo-Saxon period. In the autumn of 1 878 excavations for ironstone revealed three or four human skeletons about a yard below the surface, the graves penetrating the limestone rock to the depth of one foot, and pointing east and west. A portion of one of the skulls was found adhering to the inner side of the boss of a shield, on which the warrior's head had been laid. With a supposed female skeleton were found beads of glass, amber and terra-cotta ; and a number of brooches, clasps and buckles were recovered in very good preservation. The brooches were of various designs and sizes, some ' longitudinal ' and others circular, of well-known Anglo-Saxon or rather Anglian types. One of the circular specimens had a fylfot design in open-work ; ^ and two, which must be rather Romano-British, are described as of the true ' safety-pin ' type. This batch of finds was not described as fully as could be desired, but attention was very properly drawn at the time to the opportunities afforded by the ironstone digging in many parts of the county for securing archaeological remains. The nature of the work renders im- perative a careful supervision if such remains are not to be lost to science. The discoveries at Great Addington too have not been recorded with sufficient precision to be of much evidential value ; but the inter- ments appear to belong to two periods separated by a considerable interval. ' Near the south end of the village is an elevation called Shooter's Hill, which seems to have been used as a place of burial by the ancient Britons and Romans, several human skeletons and ancient relics ' Journal of British Archeeological Association, 1899, p. 295. ^ Figured in Proceedings, Society of Antiquaries, vol. ix. p. 90. 241
