100 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
Holes D25 to D28 yielded a number of fragments, conjectured
to be parts of massive rims, 11/2 to 2 inches thick. Many of the
rims were characterised by a shallow depression, such as would
be caused by the. pressure of the hand on the plastic clay before
the pieces were fired. The depression resembles that found on
some of the rims figured in Plate 5, and may be an example of
a primitive form of handle.
As regards the material itself, this has a very low Apparent
Density, 1.2 (see Essex Naturalist, Vol. xxvii, p. 55), but Dr.
Searle finds no evidence of the addition of any vegetable
matter to the clay before firing. The raw material, he says, is
a very silty sandy mixture and must have been fired at a very
low temperature. Possibly the ware is the product of a phase
of industrial activity characterised by an intention to produce
a crude, massive and less permeable ware suitable for the storage
of liquid.
Since preparing the above statement my attention has
been drawn to a book, "The Story of the Lamp (and the Candle),"
written by Mr. F. W. Robins, who has kindly furnished me with
the following observations on the Oyster Shell Lamp :—
"The Red-hill lamp seems, from the sketch and description
"I have seen, to combine features of the prehistoric stone lamp
"and of the very widespread use of sea shells as lamps. The
"former seems to have survived until Roman times . . .
"and the latter have been used in comparatively recent times
"even in the British Isles. Mutton fat has been used as fuel
"in both types. . . .
"With regard to the three-legged stand, the use of lugs on
"which to rest a round-bottomed lamp is paralleled—though
"not closely—in pottery lamps of China (see Ex. No. 2, Plate X B,
"' The Story of the Lamp ').
"Among the Ainu of Japan, oyster shell lamps have been
"used on a three-pronged stand, but in this case the 'legs'
"point upwards at the top end of a stem which would be stuck
"in the ground, and the shell rests between them. . . .
"The lead tube" (conjecturally used as a wick holder by
Mr. Linder) "is entirely new to me in connection with such
"lamps. . . . Shell and prehistoric stone lamps usually
"had the wicks lying on the edge or resting in a groove."