Research Items

Abstract

BRONZE AGE UBNS IEOM SOUTH DEVON.—What further excavation may prove to be an important discovery relating to the Bronze age is described by Mr. H. G. Dowie in the Proceedings of the Torquay Natural History Society for 1926-27. In the course of excavations for a cess-pit at Slapton, South Devon, in July last, two urns were unearthed, and afterwards two stone cists were found. One urn was broken and a majority of the sherds dispersed, but enough have been recovered to show that, apparently, it was undecorated. It was of reddish brown paste imperfectly fired, with a black core. A fragment of rim suggests a diameter of 9 in. The second urn contained a material of gray colour but no bones. It measures five inches high and is of the same paste as the first. Of the cists, one was in a dilapidated condition. Beneath and around a stone once forming part of the cist were burnt bones, pieces of charcoal, and several human teeth. The second cist was in perfect condition. It lay 25 inches below grass, and consisted of a flat stone for base, five flat stones for uprights, and a cover stone measuring 12 inches by 10 inches. It was almost cylindrical. Burnt bones were found within. The distance between the cists was 4 ft., and the general dispositions of the finds was as if there had been two parallel rows of interments running north-east and south-west. There is no trace of a barrow. The form of the second urn is interesting. Although it approaches the class of early Bronze Age pottery known as ‘Food vessel,’ in profile its form belongs to the succeeding class of cinerary urn. The decoration of the collar is the alternately shaded triangle. Along the lower curve runs a series of diagonal punctuations. The decorative motive on the collar, though uncommon, is wide spread. The occurrence of an example at Carnac suggests that Slapton may be the terminus of a sea route.