Scotland in Pagan Times; The Iron AgeAnderson, Joseph
History
Scotland in Pagan Times; The Iron Age
Anderson, Joseph
Scotland -- Antiquities
In this remarkable sepulture the body was found in a pit 6 feet
beneath the natural surface, under the centre of the mound, laid in a
chest constructed of oaken planks, axe-dressed, and fastened together
with large round-headed iron nails. The chest had somewhat of the form
of a closed bedstead, for it was supported by six posts driven into
the soil at the bottom of the pit. On the bottom planks of this rough
bedstead the skeleton lay extended on cushions filled with feathers,
with the head to the north-east. It had been clothed in garments
worked with gold thread, of excessive richness and beauty. The
fragments preserved include portions of a girdle of silk, ornamented
with fretwork and gold tissue; a mantle of woollen cloth, with a band
of foliageous scroll-work interwoven with figures of human heads and
hands, and further ornamented with figures of animals, and patterns
worked in gold thread; and portions of cuffs or bracelets, also of
silk, ornamented with gold thread. In the interior of the chest or
bedstead, along with the skeleton, there were found the fragments of a
sword and scabbard, with its mountings, inlaid with silver, and two
axes, of which the one was plain, the other inlaid with zoomorphic
patterns in silver, as shown in Fig. 78. On the lid of the chest there
stood at the one end a cauldron of thin brass, two buckets,
constructed of oaken staves hooped with iron, and at the other end lay
a wax candle, 22 inches in length, which had burned for some time,
probably during the funeral ceremonies.—La sepulture de Mammen, par J.
J. A. Worsaae, in the _Memoires de la Société Royale des Antiquaires
du Nord:_ Copenhagen, 1870.
Footnote 51:
This and the two following figures are copied from Professor Stephen’s
_Thunor the Thunderer:_ Copenhagen, 1879, folio.
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