Coins were, as has just been stated, buried with the dead, in conformity with a superstitious belief that they would expedite the passage of the soul across the lake in Hades. The magic power of money in all connections with human life originated this custom. In all worldly matters money then was, as it unfortunately now still is, the main, if not the only, sure passport to place and honour; and thus it was believed that the soul of the man who had not received the usual rites of burial, and in whose mouth no fee for the ferryman of the Stygian lake had been placed,[34] would wander hopelessly on its banks, while decent interment and a small brass coin would obviate any disagreeable inquiries that Charon might else be inclined to make as to the merits or claims of the applicant. Thus in the cinerary urns of the period of which I am speaking coins are very commonly found, and also in interments by inhumation a small coin has, in more than one instance in Derbyshire, been found with the skull, in such a manner as to leave no doubt of its having been placed in the mouth of the deceased. In some instances a considerable number of coins have been found deposited together, or scattered about, in a barrow, along with human remains. In Haddon Field a large number of coins, principally consisting of third brass of Constantine, Constans, Constantius II., Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, were found, along with bones and fragments of pottery, traces of decayed wood, and a portion of a glass vessel. At Minning-Low, the fine chambered tumulus described on p. 54, ante, where several interments of the Romano-British period have undoubtedly been made in the earlier Celtic mound, many Roman coins, along with portions of sepulchral urns, etc., have from time to time been found. These are principally of Claudius Gothicus, Constantine the Great, Constantine Junior, Valentinian, and Constantius. In a barrow near Parwich, upwards of eighty coins of the later emperors were found. At most places, in fact, where Roman interments have taken place, coins have been found, and these range from an early to a late period in Roman history.
When interment was by inhumation, in many instances the body was simply laid in the earth without any further covering than the usual dress. In other instances there are abundant appearances of the body having been enclosed in a wooden coffin or chest. In others, again, the body had been enclosed in a stone sarcophagus or chest, which was occasionally elaborately carved. Sometimes, again, coffins of lead were used. Mounds or barrows over sepulchral chambers and other modes of interment were frequently raised, to which I shall have to draw further attention. Examples of the first and most simple of these modes of burial have been discovered in different parts of the country, those at Bartlow Hills and at Little Chester being, perhaps, among the most notable. At the latter place a skeleton of a man found some years ago lay full length on its back, the arms straight down by the sides. Iron rivets, which were found much corroded, lay near various parts of the body, and a thin stratum of ferruginous matter encased the skeleton at a little distance from the body and limbs. From these circumstances it is to be inferred that the deceased was interred in his armour. Other interments by inhumation have been recently discovered in the same neighbourhood, but without, in some instances, the ferruginous appearances. The remains of horses were found along with them. Interments by inhumation have also been found at Brough and at other stations in the same county, and, as later deposits, in Celtic barrows. Those where the bones have been found in situ appear, like the one I have spoken of at Little Chester, at Bartlow, and at other places, to have been laid at full length on the back, the arms straight down by the sides. They appear in most instances to have been simply laid in a very shallow grave, but little below the surface of the already formed mound, and to have been then covered to no great thickness with earth. Those found at Bartlow lay parallel to, but a short distance apart from, each other, their heads to the west and feet to the east. They were laid flat on their backs, their limbs straight out, their arms by their sides, and hands on the thighs. Some coins of Constantine and Tetricus, and other little matters, were found with them.[35] Traces of wooden chests or coffins were discernible around these skeletons, and this feature is not uncommon in burials of this description.
When the body was placed in a stone chest or sarcophagus, it was in full dress, on its back, on the bottom of the chest, and any relics which were intended to be buried with it were laid about. The chest, as is evident from the examples found at York, was then partly filled with liquid lime, the face alone not being covered with the corroding liquid. When now found, a perfect impression of the figure is preserved in the bed of lime in which it was encased, and in some instances even the colour and texture of the dress is plainly distinguishable.[36] Frequently the stone chest contained a leaden coffin, in which the body was placed. A remarkably fine sculptured chest found in London,[37] and others found at York,[38] will be sufficient references to these interesting sarcophagi, which are occasionally inscribed.
A tomb of a different description, which will be seen to partake largely of the construction of the stone cist of the earlier period, is here engraved ([fig. 206]). It is formed of ten rough slabs of gritstone, two on each side, one at each end, and four others laid as covering on the top. On removing the covering stones, a regularly shaped mass of lime presented itself, which had derived its form from a wooden coffin that had so nearly perished as to leave only small fragments behind. The wood was evidently cedar. On turning over this mass of lime an impression of the body of a man, which had been enveloped in, or covered with, a coarse linen cloth, fragments of which still remained, was distinctly seen. In another instance the impression of the body of a woman who had been clothed in rich purple, with a small child laid upon her lap, was distinctly visible in the lime.
Fig. 206.
Fig. 207.
Coffins of lead are of not unfrequent occurrence in the cemeteries of London, Colchester, York, Kingsholme, Southfleet, Ozengal, and elsewhere. They are, as will be seen by the example from Colchester ([fig. 207]),[39] usually ornamented with raised escallop shells, beaded mouldings, annulets, etc, in a variety of ways. The next engraving ([fig. 208]) exhibits a leaden coffin discovered in 1864 at Bishopstoke,[40] in Hampshire. The lead which formed the coffin was about a quarter of an inch in thickness. The coffin, which was five feet six inches in length, and sixteen and a half inches in breadth, inside measure, had not been cast in a mould, but the lead cut so as to form the sides. The lid appeared to be formed of one sheet, and had been bent or lapped over the lower part of the coffin. The lead was much corroded, and lime had evidently been placed in the coffin. There was none of the ornamentation on the outside, so common on leaden cists. Nearly the whole of the skeleton remained, but the skull was broken. The teeth were perfect and good. The skeleton was that of a female. Inside the cist were the remains of small glass bottles, probably lachrymatories. The glass was thin, and of a very pale green colour. There was no appearance of handles to the glass vessels, nor were there any marks of ornamentation on them, except a faint line or ring marked upon one of the three necks found. Around the coffin were the remains of the wooden chest in which it had been placed.
