J.Y. Akerman, Esq., F.S.A., Local Secretary for Berkshire, communicated the following report of excavations in an ancient cemetery at Frilford, near Abingdon, Berks.

  • Akerman, John Yonge, 1806-1873.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: J.Y. Akerman, Esq., F.S.A., Local Secretary for Berkshire, communicated the following report of excavations in an ancient cemetery at Frilford, near Abingdon, Berks. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    but, according to tbeir account, tlie greater part skeletons only. I have seen some spear-heads and the fragments of a bucket, which were recovered from a dirt heap, having been disregarded by the finders and mercilessly demolished by the spade and pickaxe. I have also seen an urn of dark-coloured pottery of lioman, or Eomano-British fabric, and a bronze pin, which the workmen state were found by them at the bottom of what they term a well. Both these objects have been drawn the actual size by my friend the Kev. J. C. Clutterbuck. “ I commenced operations by opening a trench from south to north, when we soon came upon a grave containing a skeleton lying with the head to the west, without any relic whatever. Two more graves were found in the same direction with the same results. A fourth grave contained the skeleton of a woman with a few relics of minor importance, with the exception of an oval-shaped brooch which had once been set with a paste, and still shows traces of gilding. This object differs in style and workmanship from the Saxon flbulaj, and resembles a brooch found at Long Wittenham (Archaeologia, Vol. xxxix. pi. XL !)• “ Another grave contained a female skeleton with a pair of saucer-shaped fibulae gilt on the inside and ornamented in a simi- lar style to those engraved in Pagan Saxondom, pi. xix. There was also a bronze girdle buckle. “ In cutting a second trench, parallel with the first, three or four graves were discovered with skeletons only. In another the trench intersected the grave in the centre, and the workman’s pick was driven through an umbo which lay in the lap of a male skeleton. The pick has passed through it without breaking it into pieces. I call attention to this fact as showing the excel- lence of smiths’ work among the Anglo-Saxons, and as proving that their boasted skill in the fabrication of warlike implements was not purely mythical. “ Several small-brass coins of the Lower Empire were found as the excavations proceeded, and this, together with the circum- stance that the ground is strewed with fragments of Koman or Romano-British pottery, must be viewed in connection with the discoveries I have now to describe. “ In a grave the skeleton in which lay, like all the rest, with the head to the west, was found a small coin of Constantine. A thin stone was placed on the forehead, and upon this lay the coin. I dare not venture to say that this piece of money must be con- sidered as the classical pagan viaticum, but from what follows it will be seen that there is some probability of its being so. “ Only one fictile vessel was met with, viz. a small urn of black pottery and of Saxon type, but without ornamentation, and