Guilton Grave 27

Grave east and west, as before, and about three feet deep. Much black-dust of a coffin: eighteen small glass and earthen beads of divers colours: five or six slender rings, which had a kind of sliding knot, in order to their fitting a larger or a smaller finger, and seemed to be of silver; they were so very rotten, that they fell to pieces with bare handling: a small golden ornament, or perhaps amulet, for the neck, with a loop of the same metal to hang it by [M 6051]: a very beautiful round fibula subnectens of silver, set with three garnets and a blue stone [M 6023]; the last is in the centre of it, and fixed in an ivory hemisphere; it is one inch and a half diameter: the intervals between the stones are figured and gilded. All these lay near the place of the neck. The blade of a small knife: many small iron links, each about three quarters of an inch long: four brass pins or instruments, each about one inch and a half long; they had all of them small holes, and two of them had little ringles in their heads [M 6207]: they were so rusted to the links that they could not be easily separated. I make no doubt but that the links composed a chain, and that these pins, or instruments, were hung to it; see No. 19.At the feet, on the outside of the coffin, was an urn of green glass, beautifully corded with a double spiral line from top to bottom; it held about a pint, or rather less; its inside was beautifully coated with what the antiquarians call electrum and annatura.[1] I had the ill luck to break it after I had gotten it fairly out of the ground. Here were also several nail-like pieces of iron.[1] These terms are inapplicable: the variegated colours which ancient glass often assumes arise from its partial decomposition; and this is much influenced by the character of the glass and by the nature of the soil in which it has been deposited. - C.R.S.