bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Types of Megalithic Monuments of the Irish Sea and North Channel Coastlands: A Study in Distributions
Authors: Davies Margaret
Published: January 2012

The megalithic cult of southern and western Europe appears to have been largely seaborne. It was spread in western Britain, too, by a people who used the northern sections of the Atlantic route. This paper deals with the distributions of different types of megalith in the Irish Sea basin and in its northward extension. It describes the burial and ceremonial monuments of the lands which front on to a mainly land-locked sea. The routeways of the Irish Sea were used to diffuse the megalithic cult over a long period, and the better favoured coastlands attracted large colonies of megalith builders (see fig. i) comparable in size to those of any section of the Atlantic route. The controlling geographical features such as tidal currents and their influence on routeways; or diffusion in relation to areas of lighter soil, or patches of bare rock, or wind-swept coastlands (i.e. the less densely forested areas); are of vital importance, and will be discussed elsewhere.
Part of the Stem of a Roman Monumental Candelabrum of Stone, from York
Authors: Richmond I. A.
Published: January 2012

In 1876, while the York railway station and goods yard were being planned anew by the North Eastern Railway (now the London and North Eastern Railway), a carved stone was found on the ‘hill near the New Goods Station’, a site of which the exact position, now obscured by still more extensive railway development, is discussed below (see p. 7). The stone was presented by the Directors of the North Eastern Railway to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, which already owed much to their public spirit; and it was in due course described, in the Society's catalogue, as ‘a fragment of pillar, 2 ft. 8 in. high, ornamented with human heads and basketwork, over which a man is climbing’. In the Society's Annual Report for 1876 it had, however, won no particular description and was doubtless regarded as among ‘the one or two sculptured stones’ blandly recorded as having ‘added to the completeness of the collection of Roman antiquities’.
The Excavation of Maiden Castle, Dorset, Second Interim Report
Authors: Wheeler R. E. M.
Published: January 2012

It may be recalled that the excavation of Maiden Castle, Dorset, has been undertaken by the Society of Antiquaries and the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for two main reasons: first, because Maiden Castle is typical; and secondly, because it is at the same time exceptional or even unique. It is typical as representative in position and kind of a very large number of prehistoric fortress-towns in and about the region of Wessex, and its extensive exploration may be expected, therefore, to provide a firm basis for a further inquiry into this notable manifestation of urban development in the later prehistoric period. It is exceptional and, as to its great double entrances, unique in the scale and complexity of its defence-system; and in this respect may be regarded, not merely as the product of an era, but as the monument of some intensely individual and remarkable mind—in Thomas Hardy's words, ‘some remote mind capable of prospective reasoning to a far extent’. Indeed, the hackneyed word ‘personality’ can perhaps be applied more easily to Maiden Castle than to any of the many earthworks which in other regards have an equal claim to investigation.
The Sacred Tree motive on a Roman bronze from Essex
Authors: Tonnochy A. B. , Hawkes C. F. C.
Published: January 2012

The rarity of any traces of Christianity among the Roman remains of this country has often been the subject of comment.

The little church at Silchester and its probable analogue at Caerwent make a poor show beside the more than twenty known pagan temples, and setting aside certain recognizably Christian tombstones, no other relics are hitherto known save some examples of the Chi-Rho monogram. The object here published is therefore anyhow worthy of remark, and the more so since its decoration exhibits a symbolism of long history and peculiar interest, namely, that of the Sacred Tree.
Notes on the History in the Seventeenth Century of the Portraits of Richard II
Authors: Poole Reginald Lane
Published: January 2012

The history in the seventeenth century of a fourteenth-century picture can only be of secondary importance. But since many writers on the Wilton diptych and the Westminster Abbey whole-length portrait of Richard II have complained of disputed statements and doubtful evidence, it is worth while to set out a few new suggestions which appear to be adequately supported. They are based upon a close study of such sources of information as we possess, and may perhaps ultimately help to a clue to the undiscovered first owners and authors of the paintings.
A West Alpine and Hallstatt Site at Southchurch, Essex
Authors: Francis A. G.
Published: January 2012

A Trench for an outfall sewer in Thorpe Hall Avenue, Southchurch, in 1929, followed by excavation in the adjoining marshland in 1930, disclosed a new lacustrine site associated with pottery of Hallstatt and later dates. Complete exposure was not possible then, but results of archaeological interest were obtained, which are summarized briefly here; full details and references are recorded elsewhere.
Some Greek Seals of the ‘Geometric’ Period
Authors: Casson Stanley
Published: January 2012

That the art of gem- and seal-cutting persisted in Greece during the long and uncertain period of development that preceded the full flower of archaic Greek art has been acknowledged by the accepted classification of certain stones bearing intaglio designs as ‘geometric’. That such stones are not numerous in European collections is due chiefly to their extreme crudity and lack of artistic charm, which give them little worth in the eyes of collectors.
Additional Notes on the History of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers
Authors: Knowles John A.
Published: January 2012

The following notes have been set down in response to the invitation contained in a foot-note to page 15 of Mr. Chas. H. Ashdown's excellent History of the Company, in the hope that they will prove of interest to those who are anxious that all details in connexion with one of the most interesting of medieval crafts shall be recorded.
Two Twelfth-Century Charters of Reading Abbey
Authors: Andrews H. C.
Published: January 2012

I was very glad to receive two years ago permission from the Hon. Mrs. Abel Henry Smith and Major Edward P. Smith to calendar the mass of deeds relating to the Woodhall Park estate, at Watton-at-Stone, Herts. These deeds range from the twelfth down to the eighteenth century and cover the villages and hamlets of Watton-at-Stone, Aston, Stapleford, Sacombe, Wempstead, and Waterford, so far as concerns the manors of Aston, Bardolfs, Waterford Hall, Patchendon, Woodhall, Gobions and Lanvars, and Sele.

Of the two earliest of these deeds one, which belongs now to Mr. Vernon Austen Malcolmson, of Aston Bury, Herts., is Queen Adeliza's charter giving the manor and church of Aston, Herts., to Reading Abbey. The other is King Stephen's charter of confirmation of the same, and is still amongst the Woodhall Park deeds.
Excavations at Titterstone Clee Hill Camp, Shropshire, 1932
Authors: St. J. O'Neil B. H.
Published: January 2012

Titterstone Clee Hill lies some five miles due east of Ludlow. It is crowned by a camp which comprises the whole of the comparatively flat top, measuring about ½ mile from east to west and ⅓ mile from north to south. In area (71 acres) and in elevation (1,749 ft. at its summit) it is abnormal amongst hill-forts in Great Britain; both these facts have important bearings on the excavation of 1932, particularly on the lack of finds (see p. 30).

A full discussion of its topographical features and environs will be published shortly in Archaeologia Cambrensis. It will be sufficient here to call attention to the camps on Brown Clee Hill and the connexion between them and Titterstone; and to the main East–West trackway, which passes close under the rampart of the latter. The two main branches of this track to the west are well attested for the prehistoric period, and there can be little doubt that the camp on Titterstone was placed to command their point of junction.
Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlement at Broom Hill, Michelmersh, Hants
Authors: Percival S. T. , Piggott Stuart
Published: January 2012

Between the rivers Test and Itchen in Hampshire, to the west of Winchester, and to the north-east of Romsey, there is a tract of high ground, forming the watershed between these two rivers, rising at Farley Mount, close to the Roman road from Venta to Sorbiodunum, to a height of 500 ft. above the sea. A part of this tract, particularly the area above the 300-ft. contour, in the ecclesiastical parishes of Farley Chamberlayne and Braishfield, is specially rich in surface flint implements of Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. The Broom Hill site is at the southern boundary of this area, on the borders of these two parishes and in the civil parish of Michelmersh. The position is latitude 51° 2′ north, and longitude 1°27′ west. It happens to be marked on O. S. 6-in. xlix, NW., by a triangle, showing that the place was used as a trigonometrical station, and is, therefore, readily visible for some miles around. The height of the point above sea-level is 330 ft.

Here at intervals, during the years 1932 and 1933, the writer discovered some neolithic pottery which will be described by Mr. Stuart Piggott. The site is approximately 150 yards wide from east to west, and some 250 yards long from north to south. It is a ridge of chalk, capped by a sandy clay, above which again is a rough pebbly gravel in which the pottery was found, about twenty to thirty inches below the turf. The fact that there is clay under the gravel causes the land below the hill to be exceedingly marshy, and this state of things was probably even more pronounced in ancient times. The site is a narrow neck ending in a broader portion, entirely surrounded, except at the southern end, by steep slopes or marsh. The form of the site cannot be judged from the shape of the 300-ft. contour on the map, for there is an under-feature which causes the site to assume the form of a peninsula jutting northwards. But at the narrow southern end there is no sign of any defensive bank, which might, perhaps, have been expected; but the site shows signs of having been under plough, though not in living memory.
Further Miscellaneous Notes on Medieval English Alabaster Carvings
Authors: Hildburgh W. L.
Published: January 2012

The miscellaneous notes herewith presented have been gathered, at various times and from various sources, since publication of my last series of notes of the kind, in the Archaeol. Journ. for 1931 (lxxxviii, 228–46). The one single factor they all have in common is some connexion or other with the medieval English alabaster industry, on which much scattered material has already appeared in several well-known books and in a very considerable number of papers on the subject in periodical publications.
Report on the Excavations at Ur, 1932–3
Authors: Woolley C. Leonard
Published: January 2012

The eleventh season of the Joint Expedition of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania started on 18th December 1932, and closed down on 9th March 1933; it was therefore a shorter season than usual, and its programme was also a modest one, the object being rather to finish certain tasks that had already been begun than to embark on new sites. About 150 men were employed.
Etched Carnelian Beads
Authors: Beck Horace C.
Published: January 2012

There are two main types of these beads. The first type which is much the more usual has the pattern made with white lines on a background of the natural colour of the stone. The second type has the whole surface of the stone whitened and then a design in black made upon it, the whitened surface of the stone forming a white background. Specimens of this type are very uncommon.
Excavations at Castlelaw, Midlothian, and the Small Forts of North Britain
Authors: Childe V. Gordon
Published: January 2012

The fort at Castlelaw is one of a group of four, strung out along a front of five miles on the south-eastern slopes of the Pentlands. Like the rest, it does not occupy the summit of the hill (which is just under 1,600 ft. in height) but is built some 990 ft. above sea-level on an elevated spur projecting from the main mass which rises steeply above the fort, just out of bowshot. The spur ends in a slight knoll the oval summit of which is 93 yds. long by 40 yds. wide. This area is enclosed within a very low Inner Bank, while a more conspicuous rampart, Middle Bank, supplemented on the north only by an Outer Bank, impeded progress up the slope. Two rock-cut fosses, superficially invisible, were revealed between the ramparts by excavations carried out during 1931 and 1932. A detailed report of these operations will be published elsewhere, but the results which concern Britain on both sides of the Border may be summarized here.
Rock-cut Tombs in Mallorca, and near Arles in Provence
Authors: Hemp W. J.
Published: January 2012

Some rock-cut tombs in Mallorca and near Arles were described by the present writer in Archaeologia, lxxvi, 121–60. As subsequent discoveries have cleared up certain doubtful points, and support or modify suggestions then made, a further note seems to be desirable.
Saxon Discoveries at Fetcham
Authors: Cotton Arthur R.
Published: January 2012

From time to time during the past 150 years traces of Saxon burials have been discovered at Hawks Hill, Fetcham, Surrey, and in the year 1907 a Saxon cemetery was definitely located there. The hill stands at an elevation of 300 ft. above sea-level, and overlooks the valley of the Mole; and the conclusion arrived at in 1907 was that it was the burial-ground of a Saxon population, which probably had its settlement at the foot of the hill, in the valley of the Mole, during the fifth and sixth centuries A.D.
Excavations on Thundersbarrow Hill, Sussex
Authors: Curwen E. Cecil
Published: January 2012

In pursuance of its policy of making small exploratory excavations in as many as possible of the prehistoric sites near Brighton, the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Club examined the earthworks on Thundersbarrow Hill during the spring of 1932. This was very largely made possible by generous contributions from numerous individuals as well as from the Sussex Archaeological Society, in addition to which valuable assistance was rendered by Mr. G. P. Burstow, Mr. B. C. Hamilton, Mr. G. Holleyman, Mr. J. D. M. Stuart, and Miss T. Hawkins, in digging, surveying, and washing pottery. Thanks are also due to the land-owner, Mr. F. S. C. Bridger of Hove, and to the tenant, Captain Torr of Little Buckingham, Shoreham, for permission to carry out the work.
The Pottery from the Romano-British Site on Thundersbarrow Hill
Authors: Oakley Kenneth P.
Published: January 2012

The pottery described in the present paper is that found during the excavation of the site of a small Romano-British settlement on Thundersbarrow Hill in Sussex. The work was carried out by Dr. E. C. Curwen in the spring of 1932, and is described by him in the preceding paper.
Anniversary Address
Authors: Peers C. R.
Published: January 2012

I began my Address last year with a reference to the changes in procedure at our Anniversary Meetings, and to their effect on your President. The process of change has continued, and the meeting which was formerly an afternoon function, and then was divided between the afternoon and the evening, is now for the first time held entirely in the evening, beginning at an hour which demands a real sacrifice from those of us whose dinner time cannot be varied with impunity. It is no longer only the President who suffers. But we shall doubtless agree to give the new time-table a fair trial before reconsidering this small matter of domestic policy.
The Excavations at Colchester, 1930
Authors: Hawkes Christopher
Published: January 2012

A Note on the work done during 1930 by the Colchester Excavation Committee has already appeared in this Journal (vol. x, pp. 389–90), and on 12th March of this year, a joint paper, introduced by the Director of Excavations, Mr. J. P. Bushe-Fox, F.S.A., was laid before the Society of Antiquaries by the present writer and his colleagues in the field, Mr. M. R. Hull and Mr. J. N. L. Myres, F.S.A. Since then the Committee has resumed and finished one important part of its task: of the great Celtic site of Camulodunum, the portion to be occupied by the new Colchester By-pass road has now been fully explored from end to end. Mr. Hull, in accomplishing what remained from last year of this work between the middle of August and the 1st June (the limiting date arranged with the road authorities), has thus completed the saving of everything of value in this long strip of land from the destruction which the Committee was first formed to avert. Its responsibilities, however, do not end with this.
An Early Iron Age Settlement at Standlake, Oxon.
Authors: Bradford J. S. P.
Published: January 2012

The site is to be found on sheet 38 W. of the 6 in. O.S. in the area surrounding the small cross-roads (B.M. 255 ft.) about three-quarters of a mile north-west of Standlake church on the way to Hardwick. From the gently rising ground at this point one can look across the valleys of the Windrush and Thames (210 O.D. at New Bridge), and over the Faringdon–Cumnor Corallian ridge to the Berkshire Downs beyond. The arable fields which to-day cover the slope (‘Standlake Down’) are rather bleak and featureless, as the gravel terraces in this sector of the Oxford Basin tend to be; but from the Bronze Age onwards they were sufficiently attractive to maintain a relatively large population.
Limoges enamel censer top from Barnham, Sussex
Authors: Griffin Ralph
Published: January 2012

The top of a censer in champlevé enamel recently dug up at Barnham, Sussex, was exhibited by the kindness of Mr. F. C. Eeles at the ordinary meeting of the Society on 30 January 1930. It was found in the earth at the east end of the chancel of the church. It is possible that further excavation may bring to light some further fragments of what must originally have been a very attractive object. As will be seen from the representation it is pyramidal with four tiers. The lowest was adorned with four raised foliated ornaments, somewhat like leopards’ faces, fixed on by pins to the smooth surface, which is ornamented with a running water-leaf pattern which shows clearly in the illustration. One of these applied ornaments has come off, but the pin shows the place where it has been. To the rim below were attached four loops for the chains to run in. One of these is lost, but the holes for its attachment can be seen on the right of the spectator. They are fixed at points exactly half-way between the applied bosses, though lower down. The tier above the lowest is pierced with 12 keyhole-shaped holes in groups of three, divided by a semicircular ornament in the space vertically above the bosses on the lowest tier. The tier above this again is pierced with 11 holes, similar though not quite so long vertically. These are divided by small vertical dotted lines in pairs, and below are 16 triangular insets for enamel or composition. These are divided into pairs by eight holes for pins. Two only of the pins remain. Their use is not apparent. The top tier has ornament all over it, forming four triangles patterned, divided by broad bands to the top and slightly tapered downwards. These bands are ornamented with double lines of dots as are the divisions between the holes in the tiers below.
A newly discovered Souterrain near Ballineen, County Cork, Irish Free State
Authors: Somerville Boyle
Published: January 2012

The village of Ballineen is on the railway-line, 9 miles west of Bandon, or 25 miles westward from the city of Cork. Three-quarters of a mile southward from Ballineen, on a farm named Curraghcrowly West, a remarkable Souterrain was discovered in April 1929. See 6-in. Ordnance Map, Cork, 109. The geographical position is Lat. 51° 43′ 23″ N.; Long. 8° 57′ 17″ W. Ireland, 1 in. Sheet 194.
Tintagel: The Castle and Celtic Monastery, Interim Report
Authors: Radford C. A. Ralegh
Published: January 2012

In 1929 the Duchy of Cornwall exercised its powers under the Ancient Monuments Acts, and placed Tintagel under the guardianship of the Commissioners of H.M. Works. During the clearance of the medieval castle it seemed desirable to investigate the earlier history of the site, in order to test the basis of the Arthurian traditions. In 1933 a fortunate discovery revealed dry-built walls on a terrace on the north-eastern cliffs. Subsequently an examination of the area surrounding the chapel disclosed indications of similar buildings, and trial excavations during 1933 and 1934 showed that these buildings belonged to a Celtic monastery.
Reports on 1. The Non-Marine Mollusca, and 2. The Animal Remains from the Stonehenge Excavations of 1920–6
Authors: Kennard A. S. , Jackson J. Wilfrid
Published: January 2012

1. Soil samples from a number of loci were submitted for examination for non-marine mollusca and I have tabulated the results. Molluscan remains were not common, but sixteen species were determined.

2. The following report is based upon a large collection of animal remains submitted some time ago by Mr. R. S. Newall. They were obtained during excavations at Stonehenge in 1920 to 1926, and come from two superimposed levels, viz. (a) Humus layers, and (b) Silt layer. The whole forms an interesting series to be dealt with under the two headings.
A Late Bronze Age Hoard from Lulworth, Dorset
Authors: Drew C. D.
Published: January 2012

From the southern end of the main mass of the Dorset chalk hills an extension runs eastward. This, tapering as it proceeds, forms the narrow ridge of the Purbeck Hills, and, after a break caused by the waters of Poole Bay, is continued by the downs of the Isle of Wight. To the north it is bounded by the valley of the River Frome and Poole Harbour. To the south the sea is nowhere more than a few miles away, and in places it has eaten deeply into the chalk ridge itself.
A New Roman Inscription from Chichester
Authors: White G. M.
Published: January 2012

Trial excavations on the site of a new post office on the north side of West Street, Chichester, were conducted by Mr. F. Cottrill in 1934 on behalf of H.M. Office of Works, and a report on these will appear in the Sussex Archaeological Collections. During the subsequent preparation of the ground for the new building, the site has been watched, with the permission of H.M. Office of Works, by Mr. W. Ll. White, to whom I am also indebted for the photographs on pl. lxxii, taken under great difficulties. Thanks are also due to Mr. Smith of H.M. Office of Works, and Messrs. Privett for their zeal in preserving the remains.
What happened to the Great Seal of James II?
Authors: Jenkinson Hilary
Published: January 2012

Historians seldom trouble themselves much about the Great Seal of England; but that of James II forms an exception. Contemporary rumour seems to have associated it closely with the king's first flight from London, in disguise and by night, on 11 December 1688; and, from the contemporary Bishop Burnet and Rapin down to Miss Foxcroft in our own day, historians and memoir-writers of the period, with few exceptions of importance, have accepted this invitation to the picturesque. For the student of seals these excursions into his subject are flattering but rather embarrassing: Charles Bertie (in a letter to Danby), Burnet, Lord Campbell, and the second Earl of Clarendon (who quotes a letter of Barillon, the French Ambassador); Sir John Dalrymple and the Ellis correspondence; Miss Foxcroft; Halifax; King James himself; John Heneage Jesse and Bishop Kennett; Lingard, Sir Richard Lodge, and Narcissus Luttrell; Macaulay, Sir James Mackintosh (or his editor), and James Macpherson; Ranke, Rapin, Reresby, Smollett, Temperley—they are all in a tale. But not all, unfortunately, in the same tale. The king ‘took away’ the Great Seal; he was prepared l'emporter au besoin; he destroyed it; he told someone to throw it in the Thames; he flung it into the river himself; he gave it to the queen (who presumably took it to France with her); it was carried off by Jeffreys; it was delivered to the king by Jeffreys; the king took the seal and Jeffreys took the ‘purse’ —here truly is sufficient variety. The writers, in fact, agree in little save in telling a story of some kind about the Great Seal and giving no authority for it. James himself in a document of 1693 says merely (or his officials say for him) that he destroyed it. (The document is in fact an order for a (second) new seal, to be engraved apparently by one of the continental members of that Roettier family whom we are to mention below.) The story most generally accepted has been that the king threw it in the Thames during the first stage of his flight on 11 December, to which a certain number add sensational sequels: according to these it was recovered later in a fisherman's net and ‘restored to the Government.’
Recent Discoveries at All Hallows, Barking
Authors: Kendrick T. D. , Radford C. A. Ralegh
Published: January 2012

As a result of the destruction by the enemy of All Hallows, Barking, a portion of a Saxon church on the site was uncovered, and also some fragments of what must have been an imposing Saxon cross. A grant from the Society's William and Jane Morris Fund has enabled a protecting screen to be built in front of the main architectural feature exposed, a blocked archway, and, by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum, the principal fragments of the cross have been placed in a Museum repository. The Society has reason to be grateful to the vicar, the Rev. P. T. B. Clayton, for reporting the discoveries as soon as they came to his notice, and for the friendly and helpful way in which he and the staff of All Hallows collaborated with the Ministry of Works, the British Museum, and the Society in the task of quickly recording the finds and safeguarding them.
The Harrington Effigy in Cartmel Priory
Authors: Perkins J. B. Ward
Published: January 2012

Attention was drawn recently (Antiq. Journ. xxi, 1941, 158–61) to a sword of derivative Viking type depicted on an effigy in Furness Abbey, Lancs. The effigy is one of a group of related late thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century monuments, of which the majority are recorded from Co. Durham. Another sword of this form has since come to notice in a similar context. The freestone effigy on which it appears is preserved in the Priory Church of Cartmel, which lies some ten miles to the east of Furness Abbey.
The Dictionary of British Arms: Report of Progress
Authors: Wagner Anthony R.
Published: January 2012

The collection of material for the Dictionary of British Arms under the Croft Lyons bequest has been in progress since early in 1940. It is thought that Fellows may now wish to have some account of the progress made, the problems met with, and the solutions proposed. An article which appeared in this journal in October 1941 explained that the material was being gathered from primary heraldic sources in card-index form, asked for help with the work, and set out in some detail the forms of entry decided on. The summary of cards written which follows will show how generous and notable the answer to the appeal for help has been. The annual income from the bequest is now about £600. From this Council has authorized for the present an expenditure of £300 a year, the balance being saved against the much heavier expenditure which the later, editorial, stage of the work will call for. Even now the rapid progress made has only been possible because the bulk of the indexing has been done by Fellows and others without payment, while there is at this stage no need for a paid editor or editorial staff. The bulk of expenditure so far has been on sorting and other office work, on the indexing of certain special sources such as the College of Arms and Lyon and Ulster Office Records, and on journeys, transport, photography, and materials.
The Prehistoric Pottery Sites of the Lincolnshire Coast
Authors: Swinnerton H. H.
Published: January 2012

The existence of ancient pottery sites between the tide lines on the Lincolnshire Coast, north of Skegness, has long been known, but references to them in literature are scanty. The lack of detailed knowledge about them is due to the unusual difficulties which confront the would-be investigator. In the first place they lie buried under six or eight feet of marshland clay. Away from the coast itself they are to be seen only where drains dug to this or to greater depths happen to cut through them. This is naturally a rare occurrence. Along the coast, however, exposures are more common, for there the erosive action of the sea is slowly removing the clays and bringing the pottery sites to view at mid-tide level. The same process unfortunately also removes the material of the sites. Opportunities for investigations are therefore fleeting.
Prehistoric Timber Structures associated with a Briquetage Site in Lincolnshire
Authors: Warren S. Hazzledine
Published: January 2012

I visited the briquetage sites of the Lincolnshire coast, described by Professor Swinnerton, on many occasions during the years 1906 to 1909. On one visit, which was in September 1907, I chanced to see, in a hollow of the shifting sands, the remains of a group of timber structures on the northern side of Ingoldmells Point. There was a considerable number of what appeared to be wooden hut-circles, and I thought that it might be the prehistoric village connected with the briquetage industry.
Further Solutré Implements from Suffolk
Authors: Moir J. Reid
Published: January 2012

Recently, Mr. Roger Notcutt of Woodbridge showed me a beautiful flint implement (figs, 1, 1 a, and 1 b), and it is through his kindness that I am able to describe it. The specimen was found when spreading out a large mass of material carted to the seaplane station at Felixstowe for making a football ground, and this material was derived from the making of a new road in the eastern part of the town. The flint blade contains in its interstices, on both faces, remains of an easily recognizable reddish sandy loam, and this loam is present over a wide area beneath the thin surface humus in the district of Felixstowe where Looe Road is situated. I have visited the site of this highway, and have compared the loam there exposed with that attached to the implement. This comparison shows that the deposits are, so far as an examination with a high-power lens is concerned, identical. The flint blade has attached to its surfaces small patches of what appears to be manganese, and the sandy loam present at Looe Road contains similar small inclusions. There cannot therefore remain much doubt that the implement was derived from the sandy loam. This deposit represents, probably, the upper part of the Red Crag, relaid by wind action. The loam rests upon the latter bed, and the site of the find is on a low plateau bordering the North Sea and lying at a height of about 50 ft. above O.D.
Excavations at Ur, 1931–2
Authors: Woolley C. Leonard
Published: January 2012

The tenth season of the Joint Expedition of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania began work in the field on 25 November 1931, and closed down on 19 March 1932. In addition to my wife, my staff included Mr. J. C. Rose, who came out as architect for his second season, and Mr. R. P. Ross-Williamson, who acted as general archaeological assistant; Mr. F. L. W. Richardson of Boston, Massachusetts, was also attached to the Expedition to make a contoured survey of the site (pl. LVIII). NO epigraphist was engaged, for the work contemplated was not expected to produce much in the way of inscriptions; but an arrangement was made whereby Dr. Cyrus B.Gordon, epigraphist on the Tell Billah Expedition of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, could be called upon to give his services when required; actually a single visit enabled him to do all that was essential. To each of these I am very much indebted. As usual, Hamoudi was head foreman, with his sons Yahia, Ibrahim and Alawi acting under him, and as usual was invaluable; Yahia also was responsible for all the photographic work of the season. The average number of men employed was 180. This relatively small number of workmen, and the shortness of the season, were dictated partly by reasons of finance but more by the nature of our programme, which envisaged not any new departure in excavation but the clearing up of various points still in doubt and the further probing of sites already excavated, with a view to the final publication of the results of former seasons; the work was therefore rather scattered, five different areas being investigated in turn.
A Celtic Balance-beam of the Christian Period
Authors: Skinner F. G. , Bruce-Mitford R. L. S.
Published: January 2012

During excavations carried out in 1937 by Mr. G. J. H. Neely on a Viking and pre-Viking site at Ronaldsway in the Isle of Man, a bronze balance-beam was discovered on the edge of a disturbed grave with a lead weight close by. A full account of the excavations appears in this number of the Antiquaries Journal. The balance-beam is, however, of unique interest, and it has been decided to make it the subject of a separate paper which is based on a comparison of the balance with recognized Viking, Saxon, and Romano-British types and on the results of an experiment conducted at the Science Museum, South Kensington. The balance and weight are now in the Manx Museum.
The Age of Stonehenge: A Criterion
Authors: Engleheart George
Published: January 2012

It has long been understood that if any definite connexion could be proved between Stonehenge and the barrows of admittedly Bronze Age date which surround it, an approximate dating would be possible of Stonehenge itself. The common, first-sight belief that the barrows and the monument represent a necropolis encircling its sanctuary has been opposed on the ground of the irregular grouping and distances of the barrows. It may, however, be suggested in passing that if the Plain was parcelled out among clans or families into territories nearer and further and of varying sizes, and if the known custom obtained of burying the important dead where they had lived, this irregularity is explicable.
Some further Notes on the Crucifix on the Lily
Authors: Hildburgh W. L.
Published: January 2012

In a paper read in May 1924, and subsequently printed in Archaeologia, I discussed the somewhat uncommon representations of the crucified Christ attached to a lily-plant, either directly or through an interjacent cross identified with the plant. In that paper I cited eight such representations—one carved in alabaster, two in other stones, and one in wood; one painted on a wooden panel; and three in glass windows. All of these were clearly English in origin. Since it was published, three further examples of this curious flower of English iconography have come to my notice.
Excavations at Alchester, 1928
Authors: Iliffe J. H.
Published: January 2012

The primary object of the work of 1928 was to follow up the discovery in 1927 of the unexpectedly strong and heavy foundation underlying the north-east corner mound. As a result of this year's work it is evident that this corner mound represents some heavy structure which is best explained as a circular corner tower built into the town walls at their northeast angle; but even its foundations were so broken up that it was impossible to discover any outline or recover a complete ground plan. Oh the outside, instead of extending beyond the walls themselves, the circumference of the structure lay flush with the curved external angle of the walls, while on the inside its circumference projected slightly beyond the angle of the walls proper. It was thus rather an internal than an external tower, a fact which it is important to bear in mind.
A Flint Sickle-flake from Selmeston, Sussex
Authors: Curwen Eliot , Curwen E. Cecil
Published: January 2012

Apart from the Scandinavian crescentic flint sickles recently described by Dr. Grahame Clark (Proc. Preh. Soc. E. Anglia, vii, 67–81) we are not aware that any demonstrable flint sickle-blades have yet been observed in Britain. It is therefore all the more interesting that in the sand-pit at Selmeston, Sussex, where Dr. Clark has excavated mesolithic dwelling-pits later occupied by Peterborough folk (Antiq. Journ. xiv, 134), there has lately come to light a flint flake that has indubitably been used as a sickle.
A Settlement of the South Saxons
Authors: White G. M.
Published: January 2012

The presence of a Saxon settlement at Selsey (other than that of St. Wilfrid, which is generally supposed to have been in the eastern half of the Peninsula) has recently been revealed by coastal erosion west of the remains of Medmerry Farm, (O.S. 6 in. LXXXI, N.W.). The site is on low ground, only a few feet above the marshy land which lies behind, and the Saltings on the east.
Rectangular Enclosures of the Bronze Age in the Upper Thames Valley
Authors: Leeds E. T.
Published: January 2012

Any evidence, however slight, that may throw light upon the age or purpose of many of the mysterious lines and enclosures revealed by air-photography cannot fail to be of service to future research. Some time ago Major G. W. Allen brought to my notice more than one instance of a remarkable type of rectangular enclosure in the valley of the Thames below Oxford, the age of which we were reluctant even to surmise in spite of their proximity to or association with other remains obviously belonging to the Bronze Age. Three at least of these enclosures had been detected; two in Oxfordshire, the one at Dorchester close to the huge circles described by Mr. O. G. S. Crawford, the other at Benson, and a third lying athwart the southern boundary on Drayton East Way between the parishes of Drayton and Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire. Something similar, but smaller (c. 300 yds. long and 10 yds. wide), with less accurately aligned ditches has been observed at North Stoke, Oxfordshire, amid numerous circles, one of which yielded last year a cremation and two interments, all of infants.
A Moated Mound at Abingdon, Berks.
Authors: Preston A. E.
Published: January 2012

About 80 yds. to the north-east of an old house known as ‘Fitzharry's’ on the northern outskirts of the town of Abingdon is an early Norman moated mound in a good state of preservation. The mound is formed by the upcast of the encircling ditch and is covered with trees; it is roughly circular in shape, the axis from north to south measuring about 78 ft. and from west to east about 68 ft. At present the mound stands up about 10 ft. above the ordinary water-level. The moat is still (except in times of drought) filled with water supplied by an adjacent streamlet, an arm of which formerly appears to have entered the moat on the northern side. This entrance has since partly silted up but is plainly discernible. After flowing through the moat, the water rejoined the original stream at the south-east corner. The exit and the intake form at present only one channel. Originally there were separate channels. The mound and moat duly appear on the Ordnance Survey plans of 1875, and to the east is a tongue of land which may have served as a rudimentary bailey; in its present state it is roughly pear-shaped and much smaller than most of the known examples of the Norman bailey. On the further face of this tongue the streamlet surrounding it widens out considerably. Originally both the mound and the tongue were entirely enclosed by water, which, pursuing its course, descended through the town and fell into the Thames at Abingdon Bridge. On its way the streamlet served till recent times as a parish boundary.
Eastern Chapels in the Cathedral Church of Norwich
Authors: Cranage D. H. S.
Published: January 2012

The Cathedral Church of Norwich is remarkable for several features which rarely or never occur elsewhere. Among these the form of the two surviving eastern chapels may be mentioned. They may be described as bulbous in shape, and were clearly a part of the original work of Herbert de Losinga, the bishop of Norwich who transferred his seat from Thetford to Norwich in 1094. His great church was begun in 1096, and was sufficiently forward for consecration on 24th September 1101. The northern chapel has been called the Jesus chapel since the end of the fifteenth century, but before it had been the chapel of the Martyrs and later the chapel of St. Stephen. The south chapel is St. Luke's, used since the reign of Elizabeth as a parish church in lieu of St. Mary's in the Marsh, which stood on the south side of the Close and was then pulled down.
The Navetas of Menorca
Authors: Hemp W. J.
Published: January 2012

In Archaeologia, vol. lxxvi, a number of rock-cut tombs in Mallorca, dating from the Bronze Age, were described by the present writer, and attention was called to the general resemblance of their plans to those of the megalithic tombs known as navetas. These buildings occur both in Mallorca and in Menorca, but the better known and better preserved examples are to be found in the smaller and less highly cultivated island. In 1892, M. Émile Cartailhac published excellent photographs, and less satisfactory plans, of some of the Menorcan examples in Monuments Primitifs des Îies Baléares, and a recent examination suggested that certain additional details were worth placing on record, as they serve to link the built-up structures more closely with the rock-cut tombs, and indicate a definite relation of both to the long barrows of Britain.
Anniversary Address
Authors: Kenyon Frederic
Published: January 2012

In addressing the Society at an Annual Meeting from this chair for the first time, I must at once express my obligations to the Fellows for the honour they have done me, and confess my own diffidence as to their wisdom. The most gratifying honours are those to which one has no claim, and which one has no reason to expect; and therefore I can place the presidency of this Society among the most gratifying honours that have befallen me. It is not the only one that I have not deserved, but perhaps it is the most notable of them; and therefore it carries with it a special responsibility, since it must be justified, if it is to be justified at all, by its results. Of these it is too soon to speak yet. You have been very indulgent to an inexperienced President in his first year of office; you have sustained yourselves, no doubt, with the reflection that the real business of the Society was safe in the hands of very experienced officers, who would see that the republic took no harm, and that a President, after all, cannot do much mischief, provided he does not talk too much.
Reply on being presented with the Society's Gold Medal
Authors: Stein Aurel
Published: January 2012

The great honour bestowed upon me to-night by your Council is one which I appreciate deeply but for which I find it difficult to thank you. The many years spent over work in the peaceful isolation of beloved deserts and mountains has ill prepared me for speaking at gatherings like the present. Also I cannot fail to-night to realize how distant are the special fields of my labours from the sphere of those great historical and archaeological interests which make so strong an appeal to the people of this country and which for many years past have found their chief guardian in the Society of Antiquaries.
The Excavation of Maiden Castle, Dorset. First Interim Report
Authors: Wheeler R. E. M.
Published: January 2012

With the consent of the Duchy of Cornwall (the owners of the site) and H.M. Office of Works (its guardians), the Society of Antiquaries and the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society have undertaken a limited exploration of Maiden Castle, Dorset, over a period of three years. The first season's work was carried out in 1934 under the direction of Mrs. T. V. Wheeler and Lt.-Col. C. D. Drew, with the writer, and is here summarized.
A New Handled Beaker, with Spiral Ornament, from Kempsey, Worcestershire
Authors: Hawkes Christopher
Published: January 2012

The beaker shown in plate XL was found in the early summer of 1934 in working the pits of the Kempsey Sand and Gravel Co., in the hamlet of Draycott in the parish of Kempsey, Worcestershire. The exact site is almost exactly one mile due south of the middle of Kempsey village, and 300 yards ENE. of the fifth milestone from Worcester on the main road to Tewkesbury, the diggings in question being 30–40 yards W. of the lane which here runs parallel to the main road (see fig. 1). The spot is rather over 700 yards from the nearest bend of the river Severn responsible for the drift of gravel that is being worked, and the surface stands here at about 60 ft. O.D. The beaker was found at a depth of 4 ft., embedded in what seemed to be undisturbed gravel; it was whole save for a small chip on the lip and the breakage of the handle at the moment of discovery, both since restored. Other finds in immediate proximity comprise fragments, including one of rim, of a twelfth-century cooking-pot, and a quantity of animal bones, including horse: these were not from the undisturbed gravel, and in any case no definite association can be claimed with the beaker. A habitation-site seems thus out of the question, and in view of the vessel's position in the gravel and its perfect state one would expect its context to be an inhumed burial. A close look-out for human remains in the area concerned has, however, been unrewarded. The beaker was submitted to the British Museum, together with the minor finds, by the Hon. F. D. H. Lea-Smith of Kempsey, in whose possession it remains; the facts concerning the discovery had been carefully ascertained by him, and all is here published by his permission.
A Roman Pottery of the Hadrian-Antonine Period at Verulamium
Authors: Corder Philip
Published: January 2012

During the excavation in 1932 of a small rectangular building in Insula V at Verulamium a large rubbish-pit was found impingeing upon, but not underlying, its south wall (Verulamium, pp. 111–12). Fourteen vessels from this pit are illustrated in the Report (ibid., p. 186 and figs. 30 and 31), and described as follows:

The contents of the pit included a number of ‘saggers’ and ‘wasters’ evidently the debris from some neighbouring kiln. Both the wasters and much of the pottery were of a uniform hard buff ware and had evidently come from the same source. The pottery, which was clearly of one period, was associated with coins of Sabina (A.D. 119–38—M. and S. 1023), Hadrian (A.D. 132–4—M. and S. 714), and Antoninus Pius (A.D. 154–5—M. and S. 930), and may be ascribed to the period A.D. 120–60.

It will be apparent that we have here the ‘throw-outs’ of a local pottery manufactory, whose activities are approximately dated by coins to the Hadrian-Antonine period, a date which can, moreover, be checked by reference to the associated non-local types.
The Dictionary of British Arms
Authors: Wagner Anthony R.
Published: January 2012

In a codicil to his will dated 5th January 1926 the late Lieutenant-Colonel G. B. Croft Lyons wrote: ‘I desire that the income derived from the property left to the Society of Antiquaries of London … should be applied to the encouragement of the study of heraldry and in the first instance I wish that a new edition of Papworth's Ordinary should be prepared to be published by the Society.… And in order that such Edition may be generally useful I desire that the blazon of the Arms in such new Edition shall follow the style of blazon in the present Edition and that the new forms affected in recent years by certain writers be not adopted but that the blazon be full and exact and such that any person can as far as may be understand it.’

This is our charter. In accordance with its terms the appropriate Committee of the Society in January 1940 decided that for the present the new edition of Papworth's Ordinary should have priority over the other purposes specified, and appointed editors. At the same time they decided that since the same material differently arranged would make a new General Armory (which was needed not less than a new Ordinary), this should be prepared concurrently.