17
necessary to fill the blank pages in history and to correct false
impressions.
In the large towns and stations that were occupied by our
Roman conquerors, many evidences of the refinement and
advancement of these great people have been discovered, but the
examination of the small and remote village settlements has
revealed the fact, that communities of people were then living
whose condition was little better and in many respects similar, to
that of the people of the stone and bronze ages. Ramparts and
ditches defended and drained the ground on which were clustered
their habitations. Pit; or depressions in the ground walled, and
roofed with wattle and daub, continued to serve as their dwell-
ings, The use of flint and bronze implements continued side by
side with that of pottery, ornaments, and tools of iron introduced
under Roman influence. The dead were buried in the ditches,
pits, &c, without apparently any care or ceremonial regard, and
there is no indication that they had any religious belief. In some
instances cremated remains in urns of Romano-British manufac-
ture have been found, as " secondary interments," in the barrows
that had been erected in the preceding ages ; but it is probable
that tumuli were no longer constructed by these village folk. It
seems that under the influence of Roman civilization, these
Britons had in some respects retrograded, just as many remote
primitive peoples in recent times have become demoralised
through contact with Europeans. Some pottery and other
objects from these villages are shown in the collection.
After the withdrawal of the Roman power from Britain, the
inhabitants became a prey to the ravages of the Anglo-Saxon
and Scandinavian races, who after a prolonged struggle, over-
came the Britons and drove them into the south and west of the
island. The remains of the so-called Anglo-Saxons are found
chiefly in barrows and cemeteries. The dead were often buried in
an extended attitude with weapons and ornaments. Sometimes
they were cremated, and the ashes interred in urns, which
are generally hand-made. The jewellery, such as brooches,
resembling the Roman fibulae; buckles, rings, &c, were generally
made of bronze and often plated with gold or silver. Necklaces
of amber and glass beads, often of elaborate pattern, frequently
occur.