ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS
THOUGH the chalk downs of Kent, of Sussex, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight are strewn with Anglo-Saxon burials of the pre-Christian period, it would seem that those of Hampshire and Buckinghamshire, perhaps to a less extent also Berkshire, were neglected in favour of the more fertile valleys. 
Gold Filagree Pendant, High Wycombe. A circular pendant of gold (see fig.), with filagree ornament almost identical with Kentish specimens,[1] has indeed been found at High Wycombe in circumstances that indicate one or more interments of the seventh century, but further evidence is wanting of an extensive occupation of the chalk area. The fact that a large part of the Chilterns was forest or waste land, subsequently under forest law, is no adequate reason, for though the lower slopes were no doubt thickly wooded at that time, the higher ground must always have been dry and open. That these heights were inhabited during the early part of the seventh century is indeed shown by the mention of the Chiltern-sætna, or dwellers on Chiltern, in the tribal hidage,[2] but whether these were Saxon immigrants or refugee Britons, or a blend of both races, cannot be deduced from the record, and must be left to archæology to decide. Perhaps in some uncultivated area a discovery may yet be made of equal interest and importance to that on Farthingdown, to the south of Croydon, where a series of interments were brought to light some years ago.[3]
Bronze Enamelled Disc, Oving.Though it proves little as to British occupation, an interesting relic from Oving near Whitchurch, preserved in the museum of the Buckinghamshire Archæological Society at Aylesbury, may be mentioned here. It is an enamelled disc (see fig.) ornamented on one face with graceful scrolls that can be at once distinguished from early Anglo-Saxon work. How long the Celtic arts survived the Roman conquest is an unsolved
195
