ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS more ordinary objects, but has little artistic importance. The sand-pit, in which several burials were found, is alongside the railway on the east side, close to the junction of Wichnor, about ij miles south of the site just men- tioned ; and details have been kindly supplied by Mr. H. L. Hind, of Burton. The remains found in 1899" were about four feet below the surface of the pit, and more have been found since ; but the conditions were unfavourable for determining their association, and all that is now possible is to consider them under various headings as products of a single cemetery. Several warriors were evidently buried here, as six shield-bosses (fig. 6) are preserved, slightly varying in their dimensions, but all of the same general form : the largest diameter of the base rim is 6J in., with a height of 2| in., while the tallest specimen mea- sures 3 in., and is nearly 5 in. across at the base. These bosses are usually very well wrought and are exceptionally durable, testifying to the skill of the Anglo-Saxon armourer, whose praises were sung in verse and whose life was assessed very high in the primitive code of laws. The spear-heads belong to two main types (fig. 3), most on this site being of the willow-leaf form, one specimen measuring i6jin., without its point or socket. Three others belong to a common type with waved edges to the blade and a sudden widening at the base. The sockets, where preserved, are as usual split to receive and hold firmly the wooden shaft, and there is one ferrule, 3 Jin. in length, originally fixed to the butt-end. Of the small knife usually found in the graves, only a tang 2|in. long remains, the bone or horn handle having perished. The only other iron object is a small oval buckle (fig. 4), but so corroded as to be barely recognizable. It probably belonged to a leather girdle, and the type is commonly found. Unfortunately only one brooch was found, and that is without the foot (or part of the stem below the bow), which is indicated in the illustration (fig. 5). It has a square head-plate with trefoil extensions, and closely resembles the only brooch of the kind found at Stapenhill. To the bronze body was attached an iron pin at the back, but only a rusted fragment remains. Remains of the textile which the brooch was used to fasten are often found preserved by rust on the back, but the only trace at Wichnor is on one of the spear-heads. There were besides several staves of a small bronze-mounted bucket, commonly found at the head or feet of the skele- ton, but at present of uncertain use and meaning. The present example was about 3! in. high, and the groove in which the bottom was inserted is plainly 17 J. O'Sullivan, Trans. Burton-tm-Trent Nat. Hist, and Arch. Soc. iv, pt. ii, 80. 205 Fie. 3. IRON SPEAR-HEADS, WICHNOR (^)
