In the spring of 1936 the Expedition cleared a large part of the al Mina site at the mouth of the Orontes and cut trial trenches on the inland tell of Atchana. Having regard to the importance of the results obtained the Trustees of the British Museum made a large grant towards the cost of the Atchana excavation; the Ashmolean Museum continued its support of the previous year, and the generous help given by private supporters in 1936 was again forthcoming; my sincere thanks are due to those who thus made our work possible.

In this paper an endeavour is made to elucidate certain aspects of the early phase of the Roman occupation. The period under consideration is that of the governorships of Aulus Plautius and Ostorius Scapula, A.D. 43–52. The evidence that is germane to the question is both historical and archaeological, and some fresh material, more particularly relating to ‘detail-find’, is embodied in the text and appendixes.

Altar-cruets in early times were known by a variety of names, ama, amula, ampulla, fiala, phiala, potum, urceus, urceolus, vas, and vasculum. These sacred vessels were made in pairs, in order to contain the wine and the water for use in the chalice and for the subsequent ceremonial ablutions, and, since the laity did not receive the chalice, these altar-cruets were in consequence of relatively small size.

Of late the Levallois industries of the Thames valley have attracted notice, and an endeavour has been made to show analogies with artifacts of this culture from northern France. In describing implements recovered from the deposits north of and slightly above the 100-ft. contour near Iver the present author drew particular attention to Levallois relics found in the red and grey brickearth overlying solifluxion gravel, with stratified gravel below. The difference between palaeoliths from the last named and those from the brickearth at Iver was commented on, and at the same time parallels were drawn with the specimens found near Yiewsley.

On ne s'est guère occupé jusqu'ici des albâtres anglais conservés en Belgique. Ils sont pourtant nombreux et le plus souvent pleins d'intérêt.

Nous n'avons plus de retables complets comme ceux que le Comte Biver a signalés dès 1910, dans l'Archaeological Journal. Ils ont été vraisemblablement démembrés par les Iconoclastes qui ont fait, dans les anciens Pays-Bas, des ravages peut-être moins systématiques que ceux des Puritains anglais, mais hélas aggravés par les invasions et les guerres.

The Roman Ermine Street, having crossed the Humber on the way to York from Lincoln, leaves Brough Haven on its west side, and the little town of Petuaria to the east. For the first half-mile northwards from the Haven its course is not certainly known: then, followed by the modern road, it runs northwards through South Cave towards Market Weighton. In the area thus traversed by the Roman road burials of the Roman age have already been noted in sufficient quantity to suggest an extensive cemetery. The interment which is the subject of the present note was found on 10th October 1936, when men laying pipes at right angles to the modern road, in the carriage-drive of Mr. J. G. Southam, having cut through some 4 ft. of blown sand, came upon a mass of mixed Roman pottery, dating from the late first to the fourth century A.D. Bones of pig, dog, sheep, and ox were also represented. Presently, at a depth of about 5 ft., something attracted closer attention. A layer of thin limestone slabs was found, covering two human skeletons, one lying a few feet from the west margin of the modern road, the other parallel with the road and some 8 ft. from its edge. The objects described below were found with the second skeleton, and the first to be discovered was submitted by Mr. Southam to Mr. T. Sheppard, F.S.A.Scot., Director of the Hull Museums, who visited the site with his staff. All that can be recorded of the circumstances of the discovery is contained in the observations then made, under difficult conditions. ‘Slabs of hard limestone’, it was reported, ‘taken from a local quarry of millepore oolite and forming the original Roman road, were distinctly visible beneath the present roadway—one of the few points where the precise site of the old road has been located. On the side of this… a burial-place has been constructed. What it was like originally it is difficult to say, beyond that a layer of thin … slabs of limestone occurred over the skeletons. This had probably been kept in place or supported by some structure of wood, as several large iron nails, some bent at right angles, were among the bones.’ If this were all that could be said about the burials, they would hardly merit a place in these pages. The chief interest of the record would be its apparent identification of the exact course of the Roman road at a point where this had hitherto been uncertain. Three objects associated with the second skeleton are, however, of exceptional interest.