Kingston Down Grave 26

Tumulus rather higher; grave as the last. The bones much decayed; the coffin very thick and much burnt. Among the teeth, which were shattered out of their sockets and very much worn, were six glass and earthen beads, of divers colours, as before. Here were also several iron links of a chain, each about one and a quarter inch long: an iron nail two inches long, with an head above an inch broad; and several other nail-like pieces of iron. At the feet and on the outside of the coffin were the remains of a thick wooden box, about a foot long, and about eight inches broad; its depth could not be guessed at. I imagine it to have been not much unlike modern tea-chests; like those, it had a small moveable iron handle on its lid; it had also a pair of iron joints or hinges [M 6367]; and an iron hasp. I was in great expectation and hopes of finding something curious amongst its dust,[1] but found nothing. Certainly this was a woman's grave.[1]The homely and familiar character of many objects from these graves cannot fail to be noticed. The graves now being described were evidently those of the humbler and poorer classes.- C.R.S.