Fig. 368.
Fig. 369.
Among the most profuse of Anglo-Saxon remains are the beads and necklaces of glass, of amber, and of other materials, many of which are of extreme beauty. The greater part of the beads which are found are composed of glass, transparent and opaque; variegated clays of different colours; and of amber. Less frequently beads of amethystine quartz, of crystal, and of other rare natural substances are found. Sometimes the beads are formed singly, and at other times they are in couplets or triplets. Beads of metal—gold and silver—and of stones set in the same precious metals, have also been exhumed. Beads mounted on rings, or, more properly speaking, threaded on rings, are of not unfrequent occurrence, and appear, in many instances, to have been intended for the ears. The three engravings (figs. [367], [368], and [369]) will serve as examples of beads. The first, engraved full size, is of glass, and is ornamented with red, white, and yellow waves. The other two are of clay, with yellow stripes. They are from Sibertswold. The beads from the Kentish barrows are perhaps the most extensive in number, as well as the most varied in form, material, and ornamentation, of any. The next illustration ([fig. 370]) shows a series of twenty-seven beads, which formed the necklace of an Anglo-Saxon lady, whose grave was opened by Mr. Bateman at Wyaston. In this barrow, which was thirty-three feet in diameter, and four feet high in the centre, were discovered the remains of a human skeleton, consisting merely of the enamel crowns of the teeth, which, though themselves but scanty mementoes of female loveliness, were accompanied by several articles indicating that the deceased was not unaccustomed to add the ornaments of dress to the charms of nature. These comprise a handsome necklace of twenty-seven beads, a silver finger-ring, silver ear-rings, and a circular brooch or fibula. Five of the beads are of amber, carefully rounded into a globular shape, the largest an inch diameter; the remaining twenty-two (two of which are broken) are mostly small, and made of porcelain or opaque glass, very prettily variegated with blue, yellow, or red, on a white or red ground. The finger-ring is made of thick silver wire, twisted into an ornamental knot at the junction of the ends. The ear-rings are too slight and fragmentary for description. The fibula is a circular ring, ribbed on the front, an inch and a half diameter, composed of a doubtful substance. The remains of the teeth show the person to have been rather youthful, and afford another instance of the extreme decay of the skeleton usual in Saxon deposits in this part of the country, whilst those which we have reason to reckon centuries more ancient are mostly well preserved. Rings of silver, with cylindrical, or globular, or flattened beads attached, are of common occurrence in the Kentish and other graves. Of pendants I shall speak a little later on.
Fig. 370.
Fig. 371.
Coins have only occasionally been discovered with Anglo-Saxon interments, and these have, in most instances, been of the preceding Roman period. Byzantine, Frankish, and Merovingian coins have likewise been found in the graves. Coins, to which loops are attached, so as to be worn as personal ornaments, are also found.