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DESCRIPTIONS OF CRANIA.
bmkels, a term of Anglo-Saxon derivation*, from their identity to the vessels bearing that name,
in form, if not in size; this burial-place is proved to have belonged to an Anglo-Saxon people.
And from the striMng resemblance of the objects disinterred to those derived from the cemetery
at Little Wilbraham in the same county t , Mr. Neville concludes them to have been bui-yinggroimds
of the same people. These situlae, or small buckets, are wooden vessels hooped with
metal, and having a metallic bow, usually attached by rivets to the ears, sometimes by small
hooks like a modern pail, both modes of attachment being seen in the two examples from Linton
Heath, which are represented here.
Situla from Grave No. 9. Heiyht inches. Situiafrom Grave No. 72. Height 4J inches.
The wood forming the staves of situloe, which in these was of yew and had almost
entirely perished, has been observed to he of different kinds, as oak, yew, and pine. The metal
of the bow, hoops, &c., has generally been bronze, as in this case, in those discovered m England,
wHlst some of the continental examples have had the bow, rim, ears and upper ornaments of
this metal, with three iron hoops below. The size of this kind of situla, especially of those met
with in Anglo-Saxon graves, is frequently very small, the one on the left-hand in our woodengraving
was 4 i inches high, that on the right 4f inches ; and they are commonly about the
same in diameter as m height. The four wooden situte hooped with gilt bronze and iron, found
in the Prankish burial-place at Envermeu in Normandy, by that indefatigable explorer of
cemeteries, the Abbé Cochet, in September 1854 J, are of larger dimensions; the discoverer concludes
from 18 to 20 centimetres in height, or from 7 to 8 of our inches. That represented by
Douglas was of about the same size§. The somewhat diflferently constructed, hooped and staved
situlaj, found by Lord Londesborough, at Bourne Park near Canterbury, were considered to have
been about a foot high. The situla, made entirely of bronze, discovered at Hexham, containing
* A bouk is the common name in North Staffordshire for a
wooden vessel, and Dr. Bosworth derives bucket from this
word with the Danish post-positive article -et, houket, bucket.
t Saxon Obsequies, by the Hon.E, C. Neville, F.S..-i., 1852.
1 0 .
t La Normandie Souterraine, p. 397, 2nd ed. 1855. La
Vigie de Dieppe, Sept. 11, 1855.
§ Nenia Britannica, pl. 12. fig. 1 1, 1793.
(2)
ANGLO-SAXON—LINTON HEATH, CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
the large find of Northumbrian stycas, and now preserved in the British Museum, is lOf inches
high* ; and that of the same material found at Cuddesden in Oxfordshire, 9 inches in height.
The very peculiar bucket, containing a deposit of burnt bones, found near Marlborough, and
figured by Six R. C. Iloare, was 21 inches highf. It was of oak, had iron hoops, and was plated
with brass, curiously ornamented with embossed representations of grotesque human heads and
animals, especially horses. Erom these dimensions it will be rendered apparent that vessels of
the bucket form, of various sizes, were in much use amongst the Anglo-Saxon and cognate
Anylo-Saxon Cinerary Urns.
From Grave No. 61. Frojti Grave No. 56.
Heiyht 7 ijtckes; circumference 18^ inches.
From Grave No. SO.
Heiyht 41 inches ; circumference 16 inches.
nations. The two disinterred at Linton Heath belong to a particular series, which may be
regarded as of a more personal kind; and it seems not imlikely that they were employed both
to quaff the "mighty ale" and mead of om- Anglo-Saxon forefathers, and also as porringers
for spoon-meats, as has been concluded, with a strong colour of probability J. Erom their occurrence
in the graves of both men and women, the two here represented being foimd with remains
of the latter, it may be very reasonably inferred that they were used by both sexes. They are
utensils which have a special interest attached to them from being made of wood, calling into
requisition the art of the cooper, and from appertaining, solely as far as we are aware, to people
of Germanic lineage. They have occurred in many of the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of this
when deposited this need not be wondered at, may have contributed
to the opinion at first formed of their use, that they
were coronets, helmets, or parts of the head-gear. The ornamental
rim and bow of the bucket, commonly the only parts
remaining, give a comitenance to this conjecture ; and in the
case of some of the German and French examples they were
large enough to encircle the head.
* A staved example with bronze hoops of the same form,
i. e. wide at the bottom and contracted at the top, and 5 inches
high, of Scandinavian origin, is preserved in tlie Museum at
Copenhagen. Afbildningcr af danske Oldsager, J. J. A.
Worsaae, fig. 236, 1854.
f Ancient Wiltshire, vol. ii. p. 34, 1821.
X The circumstance that they are usually placed in the
graves on one side of the head, and if they contained food
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