which is also circular, weighs 23.457 grammes. Fig. 18 is square and weighs 130.378 grammes. On the last of these there has been incised an S. The same symbol was observed upon a circular leaden weight from Hofheim,[1] the S being cut roughly both on the upper and on the under surface. Professor Ritterling is probably right in interpreting it as equivalent to Semis, and therefore as indicating the Roman half pound of about 163 grammes. The actual weight of the Hofheim piece is said to be now about 150 grammes. Our Newstead weight, though apparently of the same denomination, falls still further short of the full standard.
Wooden Objects
A considerable number of fragments of wooden objects, some of which have already been described in other connections, were found in the pits and ditches. The difficulty of preserving things of the kind proved to be very great. Except in the case of oak and pine, the attempts made met with little success, as the wood, in drying, shrank and twisted out of shape. The whole of the numerous tent-pegs came from the ditch of the early fort. They were made of oak, and varied in length from 10 inches to 20 inches. They were triangular in section, and pointed at both ends, and had a well-defined notch for the attachment of the ropes (Plate LXXXIII., Figs. 6 and 13). The same type has been found at the Saalburg, and also at the fort of Coelbren in Wales.[2]
Well buckets were taken out of Pits I, XXIII and LXXXVIII. In all three cases the staves were of oak, while the bottoms appear to have been of pine. The bucket from Pit I was small in size, having a depth of 5½ inches inside and a diameter of 8 inches. The sides were ½ inch in thickness. The bottom was fixed into the sides with a neatly cut groove, 7⁄8 of an inch from the bottom of the staves. One iron hoop remained. A larger and better preserved bucket came from Pit XXIII (Plate LXIX., Fig. 4). It has a height of 117⁄8 inches and a diameter of 10½ inches at the mouth. Its iron handle was found along with it, the metal plates which had been fastened to the staves and had helped the iron hoops to bind the whole together being still attached. The plates were 13 inches long. In the same pit were some remains of a smaller bucket. The bucket from Pit LXXXVIII was of the same type as that from Pit XXIII.
A few fragments of dishes of wood came from Pit XIV. One appeared to belong to a shallow bowl with a slight moulding round the lip. Another
1 Ritterling, Das frührömische Lager bei Hofheim, p. 66, Fig. 26.
2 Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1907, vol. vii. p. 150.
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