disappeared. On March 1st, the burial deposit of an uncremated adult was found. Here again only the teeth remained, the rest of the skeleton having gone to dust. In this grave were found seven beads (two amber), a much-decayed cruciform brooch of bronze, and a piece of hide. Two yards away the ground had been disturbed as if for burial, but nothing remained. The above cases were interesting in that they were unburnt burials, and also as being the first in which metal was found. The practice of inhumation, if not traceable to tribal custom, may indicate that the occupants of those graves were Christian or semi-Christian. Such interments, however, were intermixed with urn burials, and had with them the usual accompaniments.

On 19th March, at a depth of three feet, a layer of muchdiscoloured earth was noticed. Owing to the presence of a large piece of hide, it is probable that the body had been wrapped in such a covering and then buried. At the north end of the grave three beads were found-one of amber, one of blue glass, and the third, a very fine specimen of jet. Half way along the layer, which ran from north to south, there was a much-decayed bronze brooch of the annular type; a little further on an iron buckle with bronze attachment. There were also two fragments of pottery.

A day later, at the side of a shattered urn, a semi-circular piece of iron, perhaps part of a buckle, was found. At a later stage in March, as many as six unburnt burials were noted in one week. They had associated with them some hide, a bead necklace (crude amber and glass), a small accessory vessel, and two bronze annular brooches, which crumbled on exposure. On 30th March, among burnt bones, which had been enclosed in an ornamented urn, now shattered and defective, there was found one large well-made bead of amber. From the state of the perforation it was obvious that the bead had been worn as a single ornament. In this connection, Wright remarks: "Beads appear to have been worn round the neck by persons of both sexes, and it is possible that they were not only considered as personal ornaments, but that they were looked upon with a superstitious feeling as preservatives against danger, and especially against witchcraft. This was peculiarly the case with amber, which, according to the belief of the Ancients, protected the person who wore it about him against the evil spirit. Hence we find continual instances of interments in which the deceased had merely one bead of amber attached to the

neck, and sometimes it appears to have been simply placed in the grave by the side of the head." In addition to the amber, there was associated with this burial a piece of fused glass, the remains, it may be, of beads or a drinking cup.

The vessels of pottery noted in 1910 were without exception fragmentary and incomplete. The breakages may be due to the pressure of the surrounding earth, but the defective condition of the urns is more difficult to explain. Those near the surface (and many along the "furr" line of burials were only a foot or even less below the present level) may have been exposed and scattered by the plough. The land, though now in grass, had been tillage previously for generations. For the urns at a lower depth, the plough theory is quite inadmissible. To account for their condition, some suggested previous disturbance, others "tribal custom," whilst others were content to look upon it as a mystery. In support of the theory of previous disturbances, it was pointed out that seldom had the urn an accompanying gift associated with it. Whenever anything was found, it was almost always below the vessel, as if belonging to another previous interment. In this connection one may recall Canon Atkinson's experience in Cleveland barrows of an earlier period. The advocates of "tribal custom" point to the common belief of the coming of Woden and his ship for the soul of the dead. In their judgment, the pottery was broken at the time of burial to allow more ready egress to the spirit on the approach of the god.

Another peculiarity connected with Hob Hill was the total absence up to this date of anything of the nature of a weapon. The sword may have been peculiar to the upper classes, but why no knife, and neither spear nor shield? This may have arisen from the poverty of the community (though even the poorest might have to fight), or it may have been due to the fact that the Angles round Saltburn were a non-warlike people. As against the latter explanation, one may point out that the conditions which then prevailed called both for arms and men. Near Hob Hill lay the sea, the highway of the pirate and the slaver, and other undesirables. To all such the splendid stretch of beach between Huntcliff and the Tees (at a later date described by Arthur Young as 'one of the finest and firmest in England") offered a most tempting landing-place. Marske's sunny lands and sands beyond Pactolus' golden sands" must have gazed upon many a conflict between intruder and occupant.

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But, unfortunately, these witnesses are silent, and there is left to us nothing save conjecture.

The folly of hasty inference (like the above) became manifest, when on 31st May, in a third line of burials, a little to the west of the ground which had proved so fruitful, an iron axehead (fig. 3) was brought to light. The weapon was associated with a burial after cremation. It was found near the south end of the grave at a depth of 24 ft., and is of the type known as the "francisca," the ordinary weapon of the Franks. Its horizontal measurement is 7 in., length of blade 4 in., weight 1 lb. Along the same line, associated with separate interments, were found three small knives, the socket and the ferrule of a spear, a spear-head minus the point, and a piece. of oak in which was embedded a bronze ring-no doubt part of a large bucket. The last-named lay just above a wooden receptacle (like a chest), the material of which (oak), though perhaps previously charred as a preservative, was in very great decay. For this cause it was impossible to secure accurate measurements. With difficulty one traced a length of upwards of five feet, a breadth of two feet, and a height of 1 feet. The coffin had enclosed the unburnt body of an adult, of which only the teeth remained. With this burial were found an annular brooch of bronze and a necklace of beads (amber, crystal, and coloured pastes).

A little later, along the third line of burials, were discovered, inside an ornamented urn (quite at the bottom of the vessel), a pair of bronze tweezers. In the older books these are regarded as toilet requisites, for the removal of superfluous hair. More probably, however, they were used chiefly for the extraction of thorns from the skin (Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries, Second Series, vol. xxiii, No. 1, p. 277).

In concluding this brief paper, the writer has only to regret his manifold deficiencies. He undertook the work of recorder, not because of any special fitness, but, as being on the ground and in default of a more scientific observer. However, the duty has been both an education and an inspiration. The difficulties met with compelled inquiry. The ready help, given on every side, has been one of the most pleasing features of the find.