of incuse dots. It is of the same rough and heavy fabric as the other specimen. "A good many pieces of shallow circular straight-sided pans, with nearly flat rims, were found; and fragments also of small tympani of coarse grey ware, and of a light stone colour, similar to those engraved in the Journal (vi, p. 62, and vii, p. 109). Of a neater fabric is the remains of the rim and side of a patina, or bowl, of brownish-red terracotta, containing mica. "Two of the fragments of mortaria bear the names ALBINVS and AVAVS F, the latter being an addition to our list of Roman potters. A third specimen is interesting, as having its inner surface, even to the very rim, thickly studded with small bits of silex. "Though almost every vessel discovered during the excavations was more or less fractured, three specimens fortunately escaped injury, and it is remarkable that two out of the three are exceedingly rare types, namely, the elegant vase-shaped unguent pot, of bright red earth, two inches and three-eighths high; and the small globose vessel, with circular mouth and small loop-handle on one side, of grey terra-cotta, the use of which vessel is by no means certain; the third specimen is the lucerna already alluded to. "Some of the fragments of Samian ware deserve attention. Among them is part of an elegant shaped patera, stamped with the name ALBVCI. Of the embossed kind we have the side of a sinum, or wine bowl, bearing in one compartment a bull, with its head lowered as if in the act of tossing some object, and in another a draped figure of a dancing girl, holding in each hand the crusmata or castanets; another fragment of a sinum has on it a gladiatorial combat, closely resembling in design the one engraved in the Journal (iv, p. 8); and a third bears an equestrian figure galloping over a prostrate foe, recalling to our minds the reverses of some of the coins of the later Roman empire. One piece exhibits a rough-necked dog; another a couchant hare; a third a male figure curiously habited in a striped or fluted long-sleeved garment, reaching a little below the hips: he holds either a club or paddle cross-ways before him, and above are the remains of the feet of some animal. There is also part of a mortarium, the inside studded with small bits of silex, and the lower part of the outside decorated with rings. "Besides the examples of what are commonly called Samian ware there are pieces of fine red ware, destitute of the bright glossy surface, but evidently made in imitation of the first-named variety. Among them is the base of a sinum or olla; a fragment of a mortarium, with silex imbedded in its interior; part of the edge and upright side of an Acratophorum (?), impressed with a square and shell pattern; and the remains of a very thick catillus, the outside surrounded by a band of waved lines. Another example of this ware is decorated with white scrolls, painted as VOL. X. 25 it were upon the surface, and bordered above and below with a simple incuse pattern. This variety of painted red-ware is not often met with, but specimens of it will be seen figured in the Journal (iii, p. 328, and vi, 60); and an exceedingly curious fragment of the rim of a mortarium was found, in 1849, in Warnford Court, Throgmorton Street, which bore a white pattern of a very unusual character, somewhat resembling Arabic letters. "Few vessels but those of fictile ware have hitherto been met with among the ruins of Roman London; but Mr. Gunston has succeeded in rescuing a fragment of one which is wrought of white calcarious stone. It must have formed part of a rather shallow vessel, and, judging from its conic form, may probably be from the side of the drinking cup termed obba. "With these reliquiæ, were also found part of a bone stylus, broad and flat at the upper extremity, for the purpose of smoothing the waxen surfaces of the tabula and pugillares; pieces of two cotes, or stones for sharpening tools; and what would seem to be the remains of a child's crepida, or sandle of leather. "Of the domus or villa, itself, we have a few interesting memorials ; such as the stucco from its walls, covered with red pigment; a large fragment of a square flue-pipe from the hypocaust, its surface impressed with a chevron pattern; a flat piece of fine-grained sandstone, which probably formed part of a tegula, or roofing tile;' the remains of a strong iron bar; and fluted mouldings wrought of Purbeck marble. 2 "The burial of a deceased person so near a Roman villa is certainly a curious, but not altogether unique, circumstance. That the body was originally contained in a loculus, or coffin of wood, is evident from the iron nails which accompanied the remains; we may therefore conclude that this was not a mere hasty inhumation for the sake of concealment, but a regular interment. The bones obtained by Mr. Gunston consist of the eleventh dorsal, and first and second lumbar vertebræ. The teeth are reported to have been in a high state of preservation. The iron clavi from the loculus resemble those commonly met with in similar situations, having flat heads and four-sided spikes. "The quantity of animal remains discovered with these vestiges of Roman occupation, is also a point worthy of note. Those which Mr. Gunston has brought before us, consist of part of the lower jaw of the boar, the left half of the lower jaw of a large deer, the frontal bone with horn-cores of the short-horned ox, the horn-core of a rather large sheep, and the frontal bone with horn-cores of the goat. The remains of the last named animal are by no means common in London, but we may instance their discovery in Lothbury in 1844. 1 For mention of the discovery of stone roofing in the ruins of Roman villas, see Journal, iv, 367, and vi, 67. See Journal, iv, 67; vi, 448; and vii, 108. "Great praise is due to Mr. Gunston for having so carefully watched and chronicled the discoveries made in New Cannon Street; and it is much to be regretted that many Roman villas have been found in London of which there is little or no record. So far as I can learn, no mention has yet appeared of the remains of one met with towards the close of the year 1848, in Little St. Thomas Apostle. In excavating for a sewer, the workmen brought to light the remains of massive walls of chalk; stone and flat bricks; stucco with red and green frescoes; drain tiles and tegulæ of red and yellow terra-cotta; broken flue-pipes, their ends ornamented with rhombic pattern, like the one figured in the Journal (iv, p. 47); part of a mola manuaria, or hand mill, of Andernach lava; numerous examples of plain and embossed Samian ware; fragments of enormous amphora; necks of gutterniï; pateræ of rather coarse red ware; olle of Upchurch pottery; and various sized mortaria, one measuring sixteen inches in diameter. Great quantities of the shells of oysters and the edible mussel were also met with, as well as an immense accumulation of the horn-cores of oxen and sheep; and I was informed by one who narrowly watched the excavation, that many truck loads of these osseous remains were carried away from the spot. At the depth of sixteen feet from the surface of the street, a considerable quantity of charred wood and ashes were found; and similar traces of some great conflagration were noticed in cutting a sewer from Dowgate through Walbrook in 1774,' in Lombard Street in 1786,2 and in Eastcheap and Crooked Lane in making the northern approaches to the new London Bridge. And it has been conjectured, with a fair show of probability, that these ashes are the débris of the city, sacked and destroyed by the infuriated Britons in revenge for the outrage offered to the brave queen of the Iceni-the beautiful and ill-fated Boadicea.-H. SYER CUMING." A discussion on these papers concluded the business of the evening, and terminated the meetings for the session. The rev. Mr. Hugo lamented the want of a map showing the discoveries in situ of suburbs of Roman London, and Mr. Vere Irving stated some objections to the application of the word villa as describing the common residences in Roman towns. Mr. White observed that Mr. Taylor correctly supposed Roman London only to have extended westward to Walbrook. This villa was suburban. In all Roman cities there were suburbs in which the Britons mixed with the Roman soldiery. The Tower Royal was a place of great strength in the times of the Plantagenets, and ranked with the Tower itself. It was a curious question about the Watling Street which runs north of Tower Royal. He never had believed that this Watling Street could have had any connexion with the great north-west road Gough's Camden's Britannia, ii, 15. Archæologia, viii, 132. 3 Ib., xxiv, 192. called Watling Street. It was extremely desirable to know whether the skeleton was discovered above or below the other animal remains. [Mr. Gunston stated that it was below.] All discoveries west of Walbrook were most interesting, and demanded great attention. To the west of Walbrook was a suburb, which in early times formed a large town, and was full of manufactures. Here was made the cloth which supplied a large part of the kingdom. The east of Walbrook was always known to have been the great Roman city, but the suburbs to the west were not so well known. He thought that the present Watling Street formed the great highway to the Tower Royal. It may be less honour to Londoners to be told that London was not the large Roman city it had been supposed, but truth demanded that we should not conceal that point. At the conclusion of the meeting it was announced that the ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONGRESS would be held at Chepstow, in the month of August, commencing on the 21st, and terminating on the 26th. Excursions to visit as many of the castles and abbeys of the neighbourhood as possible, were in the course of preparation; and papers were requested to be communicated in illustration of them, and of the antiquities of the locality. The treasurer reported the following subscriptions to the Donation Fund, in addition to those already acknowledged. (See pp. 119, 120, ante.) THE JOURNAL OF THE British Archaeological Association. OCTOBER 1854. INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE DELIVERED AT THE CHEPSTOW CONGRESS. BY T. J. PETTIGREW, ESQ., F.R.S., F.S.A., VICE-PRESIDENT I HAVE to regret the unavoidable absence of the president' of our Association, and also that of others, who, from the pressure of imperative engagements, and by demands. for the preservation of their health, are unable to be with us at this Congress, but whose disposition towards our welfare continues with undiminished kindness. Under these circumstances I have, though in a very hurried manner, arranged a few observations with regard to our meeting; and I venture confidently to express my hope that, in a district so fertile in interesting objects of antiquity, our investigations may be conducted with success. We have now arrived at the ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONGRESS, the first meeting of the kind having been held in the month of September, 1844, at Canterbury. A congress for archæological pursuits was then an experiment: it is now no longer such. I well recollect the doubts which hung over the first meeting; I remember the great hesitation on the part of many, who are now among the foremost to promote such congresses, not merely to appear on the occasion, but even to permit their names to be published as supporters of such a design. It is, however, a 1 Ralph Bernal, esq., M.A., whose deeply lamented decease occurred on Saturday the 26th of August, the last day of the Chepstow Congress. VOL. X. 26 |