For instance, while Paganism existed, there were two customs which gave a distinctly typical character to the archaeological deposits of the heathen period. These were (1) the burning of the bodies of the dead; and (2) the deposit with the dead (whether burnt or unburnt) of grave-goods—urns, weapons, clothing, personal ornaments, and implements and utensils of domestic life. Previous to the introduction of Christianity, the burials are characterised by cremation or by the association of urns, arms, implements, and ornaments. After the introduction of Christianity these characteristics cease. The substitution of Christianity for Paganism thus produced an alteration in the character of the archæological deposits exactly comparable to that which was produced by the substitution of bronze for stone, or of iron for bronze; and the difference between the Christianity and the Paganism of a people or an area, as thus manifested, is therefore a true archæological distinction. But no archæological boundary is of the nature of a hard and fast line. The deposits which constitute the periodic divisions of archæology (like those of the geological series) are always to a greater or less extent products of a re-formative process, by which portions of pre-existing systems are imbedded in the new formation, in whose constitution the disintegrated elements of the older system are often quite clearly visible. There is therefore necessarily a series of transitional phenomena along the whole line of contact, and though the new system may have been characterised by a gradually increasing number of new types, the older types are often continued with altered characteristics, caused by an increasing conformity to the new conditions. It thus becomes of importance that the character of these transitional phenomena should at least be indicated before we finally pass from the region of Christianity into that of Paganism. Their investigation is essentially an examination of the disintegrated elements and altered fragments of the Pagan systems that have entered into the composition of later Christian formations; and no branch of this inquiry is more instructive than that which takes cognisance of the survival of Pagan customs in the usages connected with Christian burial. “The first Christians,” says Aringhi, “did not follow the heathen custom of placing deposits of gold, silver, and other precious articles in their sepulchres.” But it is plain from his further statement that they followed it partly, or, in other words, that the older custom was continued in a modified form;[1] for he goes on to say that “they permitted gold, interwoven with the cloth used in the preparation of the body for burial, and such things as gold rings on the fingers; with young girls, too, they often buried their ornaments and such things as they most delighted in.” ----- Footnote 1: