Page:VCH Suffolk 1.djvu/407

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ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS Such have frequently been found in the Anglian district." The urn and con- tents now in the British Museum have been illustrated by Akerman," and are of more than ordinary interest. The cinerary vessel is a typical one about 9 in. high, with vertical ribs round the shoulder flanked by pairs of in- cised lines ; and besides the calcined bones it contained a bone comb 3§ in. long with triangular handle ornamented with concentric circles ; a pair of shears, measuring 2| in., of an ordinary pattern, probably used by the housewife; a pair of tweezers 2 in. long, such as are frequent in cinerary urns ; and a curved iron knife with looped handle, 3i in. in total length, that cannot have been very serviceable. Some specimens have actually been found with blunt edges that have obviously never been used for cutting, and it is permissible to see in these articles the make-believe furniture supplied by undertakers of all periods. They are smaller than those generally found with unburnt Anglo-Saxon burials, and different in form,'* while their inclusion in the cinerary urn seems to be exceptional. The comb and tweezers are, however, often found with the ashes both here and in Germany, and Kemble has drawn attention to the similarity of the funeral rites in the two areas.*" What is described as a Roman urn was found with many others in 1849 during the construction of the Eastern Union Railway at Finningham ;" but as spear-heads of iron and ' ornaments of brass ' (obviously bronze brooches) were found at the same time, it is fairly evident that a mixed Anglo-Saxon cemetery once existed here, the numerous urns pointing to cremation, and the weapons and ornaments to unburnt burials. In 1858 the Rev. Greville Chester exhibited in London *^ portions of Anglo-Saxon brooches from this site : one was said to resemble that in the possession of Sir William Lawson found near Catterick Bridge, N.R. Yorks; " and the other had a more elaborate ornament, but is not further described. Another prolific area in Suffolk is that situated between the valleys of the Lark and Little Ouse, including a considerable proportion of fen. It was not on the sandy high ground that the Anglo-Saxons settled, but as usual in the river valleys, and there were evidently many settlements along the Upper Ouse River which flows into the Little Ouse near Euston Park. In the Ipswich Museum is a fine specimen of the Anglian cinerary urn {pi. iii, fig. i), from Fakenham Heath. It is, as usual, made without the potter's wheel, and is black above the shoulder and a yellowish-grey below. The ware is of the ordinary quality, and the shoulder is ornamented with vertical and sloping ribs, the latter fringed with impressions from a stamp with a cross within a circle. It is 7 in. in height, and was evidently intended to contain the ashes of the dead, while its well-formed foot distinguishes it from the majority of Anglo-Saxon urns. " f.C.H. Nor/, i, 335 ; they are sometimes called 'pulley-beads.' "Pagan Saxondom, pi. xxii ; Kemble and Franks, Horae Ferales^ pi. xxx, fig. 14. '* Near Lewes and at Kempston, Beds. ; another from an urn at Long Wittenham, Berks, is figured in jlrch. xxxviii, 342. "A large specimen of same type from Denm.irk ; S. Muller, Ordning afDanmarh Oldsager, ii (Jernllderen), fg. 124.

  • " Horae Feraies, 225, pi. xxx ; jlrch. xxxvi, 275.

" Bury and W. Suff. Proc. i, 60 ; ii, 1 18. "Arch. Journ. xv, 165. "Arch. Joum. vi, 216, where two are figured, that from Thornbrough being the more likely parallel, as it closely resembles some found at Ipswich (pi. ii, fig. 4). 335