The New Forest: Its History and Its SceneryWise, John R. (John Richard)
History
The New Forest: Its History and Its Scenery
Wise, John R. (John Richard)
New Forest (England : Forest)
From the position of the vessel at the top of the barrow, there had
evidently been a second interment. The remains, however, are in
accordance with what we might have expected. The barrow is situated not
far from the Romano-British potteries of Sloden, and close to it run
great banks, known as the Row-ditch, marking, in all probability, the
settlements of a Romano-British population.[245]
On Fritham Plain, not far from Gorely Bushes, lies another vast
graveyard. The grave-circles are very similar in size to those round the
large barrow on Bratley Plain, though a good deal higher, with, here and
there, some oval mounds ranged side by side, as in a modern churchyard.
In the autumn of 1862, I opened five of these, with the same result of
finding charcoal in all, though placed in different parts, but in all
instances resting on the natural ground, and giving evidence of only one
interment. As in other cases, the grave-heaps were often alternately
composed of mould and gravel. No traces of urns or celts were found, but
in one or two a quantity of small circular stones, with indistinct marks
of borings, which could hardly have accidentally collected.
About a quarter of a mile off, on the road to Whiteshoot,[246] lies,
however, a square mound, measuring nine yards each way, and averaging a
foot and a half in height. On opening it on the north side, we came upon
the fragments of an urn, but so much decayed that we could only tell
that they were, probably, Keltic. On the west side, another trench,
which had been made, showed the presence of charcoal, which kept
increasing till we reached the centre, where we found what appeared to
be the remains of three separate urns, placed in a triangle at about a
yard apart. These also were in the same decayed state, and crumbled to
pieces as we endeavoured to separate them from the soil. With some
difficulty we managed to preserve a few fragments which were identical
with those which had been previously discovered in the other barrows at
Bratley. They contained, like most of the other vessels, burnt stones
and white osseous matter reduced to lime. There seems, however, to have
been some difference in their texture with that of the fragments found
on the north side, which were less gritty and coarse, and which bore no
traces of charcoal or lime.[247]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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