ANCIENT URNS AT BRAINTREE.
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bones, presumably human. This urn is of elongate form and
unornamented. The second urn is globular in shape, and
ornamented with ribbed bands; it is stated to bear a potter's
mark. It was taken out of the earth in excellent condition. Mr.
Kenworthy informs me that fragments of the same kind of
pottery and bones of the horse and ox have been turning up on
this site since Mr. Parmenter began excavations in the spring of
this year. He states that he has several pieces of pottery which
he took out of the debris, and that he thought they were of
Roman make. But I understand that the British Museum
authorities put down the urns as "Late Celtic" or Neo-Celtic.
Mr. Kenworthy states that fragments of a third urn were
unearthed, but it is not known at what depth, or whether in
proximity to the others. "The diggers were too rough-and-
ready (o take observations of particulars of this kind." He adds
"the Skitts Hill locality seems to go along with Chapel Hill and
to constitute the earliest habitable ground here—as early, at
least, as the Neolithic times. The road leading from Chapel
Hill is long anterior to the Roman period and to the leading
roads now in use. It seems to be an early British road. You