women who lived about thirteen hundred years since, but you will see by specimens on the table how marvellously they are preserved. The absence of any swords among the objects discovered is negative evidence that few men of high position were buried in this cemetery ; although the fact that the bones of a horse were found in a grave with those of a man, and that what I take to be the fragment of a spur which is in my possession, was found in another grave, is a proof that some persons of the rank of a horseman were interred here.

I have placed on the card on which it is mounted a red wafer against the fragment of a spur, and I have similarly marked some other objects to which I especially draw your attention, and on which I hope to hear your comments. The spur is, as far as I can learn, a very rare object in these cemeteries. The weapons which have been found are not numerous; as I have remarked, no swords have been preserved, if any were found. There are spear-heads and short knives, but no specimen of the seax or scramasax knife; there is a tapering iron spike in my collection, which may have been the terminal part of the shaft of an angon, the barbed head and the remainder of the shaft being lost; in the absence of the characteristic barb, this can only be conjecture. The shield bosses-five in number-are numerous in proportion to the other objects, but collected as these have been haphazard by the workmen, the preponderance of these large iron umbones may simply be due to their more conspicuous and less destructible character. There are a few buckles, girdle-studs, clasps, etc., which present no points of special interest. The fibulae, of which (not including those figured in Artis' work) there are thirtyeight specimens, are, as in all other Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, among the most interesting objects found; and in this instance they present a very remarkable variety in pattern and type.

The cruciform fibulae, as is usual in the graves of East Anglia and Mercia, are most numerous, and present many variations in detail; but I will specially direct your attention to only one specimen from my collection (Plate I), a splendid, highly-ornamented, bronze brooch over

laid with gold. The general design is similar to that of others which have been found at Sleaford and elsewhere in this district and this district alone; the decoration, and especially the recurrence, at the end of the principal arms of the brooch, of the rude representation of a human face, the nose and eyebrows being joined like the letter "T," are characteristic of this special type of fibula, the face represented being supposed to be that of the god "Thor;" my specimen is not surpassed by any that I have seen, or of which I have read. In De Bayes' beautiful book on the "Industrial Arts of the Anglo-Saxons," are the following remarks on the Sleaford brooch, which apply equally to the Peterborough specimen :

"English archæologists are agreed in regarding these wonderful ornaments as an original creation of Anglo-Saxon industry: the rudely-suggested human face bears eloquent testimony to the originality of this specimen. Another remarkable peculiarity is the triangle which decorates the base of the fibula; indeed, the whole scheme of decoration excites our curiosity and demands explanation; this type, which is relatively rare and somewhat strictly localised, seems to be an exaggeration of the cruciform fibula of Scandinavian origin, and indicates a new, independent, and peculiar artistic creation. Its localisation may perhaps point to its use by one particular tribe, whose arrival was independent of the more general migration. Its rarity may indicate that its use was confined to a single community, or that but few artists were capable of executing work of this character, while the date may throw some light on points which are otherwise obscure."

The great similarity of the specimens found in the Sleaford and Peterborough cemeteries, only thirty miles apart, is a strong confirmation of De Bayes' views. It can hardly be doubted that the same artist and artificer designed and wrought both these ornaments. There is in the centre of the Peterborough brooch an ornament like the letter "Z" or "N," which may, when properly interpreted, add to our knowledge of the subject.

Among the specimens of these elongated fibulae are three of great interest; they are examples of the radiated brooches (Plate II, Figs. E and F, with a round head and projecting rays, which are supposed to be imported from Gaul, of Frankish and not of native manufacture;

they are more abundant in the southern Kentish cemeteries, where also occur the beautiful elaborate jewelled round brooches of which no specimen has been found in these graves.

Of round brooches of simpler form there are several examples, the pattern of most of them being incised, so that these brooches are between the true annular and the round solid brooch. Two of these fibulae with the "T"-shaped design characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon ornament, cut out of the substance of the brooch, are mounted on a card with the necklace of beads and the spindle-whorl, which were buried in the grave with the woman who had worn the ornaments and used the spindle during her lifetime (Plate II), Figs. A B C D.

The specimen of the saucer or cupelliform brooch, which Lord Huntly has lent for exhibition, was found in a grave near Woodstone Hill. These saucer-shaped brooches have been hitherto found only in the West Saxon cemeteries of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Bucks. and Berks.

The occurrence of this beautiful brooch in an EastAnglian cemetery is most remarkable, and demands special explanation; it may have been part of the spoils of an intertribal war; or, on the other hand, it may have belonged to a member of the West Saxon community who had intermarried with the Angles.

A systematic and careful examination of the ground adjoining that where this brooch was found, might throw light on its occurrence in an East-Anglian cemetery.

Of other objects manufactured in metal, I may point out that we have only one example of the purse-guards or chatelaines, which are peculiar to the East-Anglian graves; most of you are probably aware that these objects were at first conjectured to be keys, but that the circumstance that in some cases textile material was found attached to them, and in other cases little rings to which the fabric was sewn, led to the discovery of their real use.

Passing from the metal objects to those of glass, earthenware, etc., you will find in the collection several

specimens of beads-ten bead rows in all-they are of the usual character and of varied composition.

As in other cemeteries, they represent necklaces, which were not merely trinkets but also amulets.

Of the single large bead there is no example, but there are three small beads on a twisted copper wire (Plate II, Fig. C), which must represent an amulet rather than a trinket.

No glass vessels have been preserved, and none, as far as I know, have been discovered.

The pottery calls for but little remark: it of the usual type in East-Anglian graves; but I must direct your especial attention to one vase which is certainly formed after a Roman model, and the occurrence of which here, within three or four miles of the old Roman Castor potteries, is very interesting as showing that our Saxon ancestors thus roughly copied the form, although they had not acquired, like their kindred in the south, the art of using the lathe. Not one of these vessels has been fashioned on the wheel; they are all hand-made, and ornamented with lines made by some rude engraving tool, or with a pattern stamped on with a punch of some kind. This pottery is, however, very valuable in the history of this cemetery, for several of the urns contained fragments of bones which have been exposed to fire; some portions of these bones I have submitted to Sir William Turner, the Edinburgh Professor of Anatomy, and he is of opinion that they are human bones: but whether they are human bones, the remains of bodies which have been cremated, whether they are bones of animals that have been sacrificed, or whether they are portions of animal remains buried in urns with the dead to whom they were supplied for food, the bones equally testify to the fact that the burials were Pagan burials, prior in date to the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity-a fact which I have assumed throughout this paper.

I may say that in none of the few urns which I had the opportunity of examining before the contents were interfered with, have I found any relic besides these fragments of bones.

I append to these notes a classified list of all the articles found in these graves. Had any systematic examination been made, and each article discovered, carefully preserved, the list would have been much larger, and the opportunities of adding to our archæological knowledge much greater. Even now, the opportunity still exists for systematic excavation and careful exploration of the more western of the two burial-places; the site of the other is covered with buildings, which preclude further search.

In conclusion, I must apologise to the members of the learned society I am addressing for my unscientific treatment of the subject of this paper. I trust that they will recognise these notes as an honest effort to bring together facts which in the interest of archæological science should be permanently recorded, and for the publication of which I desire no better vehicle than the Journal of the Association.

In Dr. T. J. Walker's collection are also a small bronze hook or catch, and an iron prong pointed, probably part of some war instru

ment.