DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5674#0035
(28)
these Vases which they sent to Rome, and were in repu-
te there as valuable antiquities. There can be no doubt
then that the sepulchres which are now discover'd srom ti-
me to time in the neighbourhood of old Capua, and which
have furnished many os the Vases in this Colle&ion , are
such as escaped the researches in the time of Julius Cselar,
and if these Vases were thought most ancient, and curious
Eighteen centuries pass'd, how much more ought they to
be Esteemd at the present moment. In many former Pu-
blications these Vases have been falsely called Cinerary
Urns, for instead of having Ashes in them they are found
\ placed round an unburnt skeleton. In the ordinary sepul-
chres the Earth having entered with the rain Water the
bones are usually sound mixed with the Earth, and ex-
cept the Teeth, which have been preserved by their na-
tural enamel, have no more consistancy than the Earth it
self, mouldering away on the slightest touch, and the ske-
letons can only be traced out by their whiteness. When
one sepulchre has been discover cl, others are sure to be
met with near it, and some of a small dimension for Chil-
dren , which makes it probable that particular spots of
ground had been alotted for particular Families. I have so.
metimes found a second range of sepulchres under the
fir st, and I have been told os three ranges having been
found in the neighbourhood of Capua . With the Vases
Fibiee or buckles of siiver or bronze are often found, and
sometim.es the heads os spears and broken swords of Iron
or bronze. Rings of siiver brass, and lead, are often found,
and military belts with clasps of bronze, and what is ex-
traordinary I have seen the quilted lining of them some-
times entire tho enclined to moulder away on the least
touch, as did two eggs that I once found in a bronze Pa-
tera in one of these sepulchres. In a sepulchre at Pactum
I re-
these Vases which they sent to Rome, and were in repu-
te there as valuable antiquities. There can be no doubt
then that the sepulchres which are now discover'd srom ti-
me to time in the neighbourhood of old Capua, and which
have furnished many os the Vases in this Colle&ion , are
such as escaped the researches in the time of Julius Cselar,
and if these Vases were thought most ancient, and curious
Eighteen centuries pass'd, how much more ought they to
be Esteemd at the present moment. In many former Pu-
blications these Vases have been falsely called Cinerary
Urns, for instead of having Ashes in them they are found
\ placed round an unburnt skeleton. In the ordinary sepul-
chres the Earth having entered with the rain Water the
bones are usually sound mixed with the Earth, and ex-
cept the Teeth, which have been preserved by their na-
tural enamel, have no more consistancy than the Earth it
self, mouldering away on the slightest touch, and the ske-
letons can only be traced out by their whiteness. When
one sepulchre has been discover cl, others are sure to be
met with near it, and some of a small dimension for Chil-
dren , which makes it probable that particular spots of
ground had been alotted for particular Families. I have so.
metimes found a second range of sepulchres under the
fir st, and I have been told os three ranges having been
found in the neighbourhood of Capua . With the Vases
Fibiee or buckles of siiver or bronze are often found, and
sometim.es the heads os spears and broken swords of Iron
or bronze. Rings of siiver brass, and lead, are often found,
and military belts with clasps of bronze, and what is ex-
traordinary I have seen the quilted lining of them some-
times entire tho enclined to moulder away on the least
touch, as did two eggs that I once found in a bronze Pa-
tera in one of these sepulchres. In a sepulchre at Pactum
I re-