PREHISTORIC INTERMENT NEAR WALTON-ON-NAZE. 203
I at first took to be the lower part of a large vessel of prehistoric
pottery, from which all the upper part had been broken away.
As I began to dig round it, I found that it was only a sham urn,
if one may so describe it, composed of broken pieces built up
into the shape of a whole vessel. The large piece which did
service for the bottom of the "sham urn" actually consisted
of a piece of the side of a large vessel, still retaining part of the
original rim. It certainly had not been disturbed since pre-
historic times. Inside this "sham urn" were numerous calcined
flints, and other evidences of fire. Although I could not trace
any bone, I feel little doubt that it was actually a burial by
cremation, from which the remains of the bone had disappeared.
As already stated, this "sham urn" was found below the out-
crop of the bed of prehistoric debris, as seen on the slope of the
beach. The distance between them was only a few yards, and
I feel no doubt in my own mind that the bed of debris formerly
extended over it, until removed by the erosion of the sea.
Thus it seems that we may reasonably suppose that this
special association of prehistoric debris is, or at least in some
circumstances may be, directly connected with interments.
When we come to the further point of considering what the
value of this relationship may be, we reach ground of a more
debatable and speculative nature.
The abundance of charcoal is somewhat suggestive of a
funeral pyre having been lighted over the grave. Certain pecu-
liarities in the worked flints, however, particularly the abundance
of diminutive side-scrapers, seem rather to indicate that some
special industry had been carried on upon the spot.
If one may venture to throw out a suggestion, it seems to me
not improbable that the man whose skeleton we found was a
craftsman in some special industry. That he carried this
industry on at his own hut, so that the surface surrounding his
abode became strewn with the debris of his craft. And further,
that when he died, he was buried, after the manner of a custom
which is found among modern savages, in his own dwelling, and
consequently under the debris of his own industry.
I do not wish it to be thought that I attach too much weight
to these suggestions. Perhaps it is somewhat premature to
indulge in speculation of any sort. One can only hope that
future discoveries will throw further light upon the problem.