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Summary

Richly furnished burial dating to c.AD 200, apparently marked by a cairn of flints

Monument Types

• CREMATION (Roman - 50 AD to 409 AD)

Protected Status

• SHINE: Cropmarks of Roman settlement, Kelshall

Full description

A cremation burial, dating to about AD 200 and discovered in October 2014, was accompanied by three copper alloy jugs and a copper alloy patera; an iron lamp; two glass cups, two square glass bottles, a rectangular bottle, an octagonal bottle and an hexagonal bottle; two millefiori glass 'dishes' apparently wrapped in a cloth; a lava object; and a pair of shoes with hobnails. The glass cups and the lava object were inside a wooden box, at the bottom of which was a silver denarius of Trajan (AD 98-117). The cremation itself was inside the hexagonal glass bottle, and resting on the bone was a worn bronze of Marcus Aurelius. The glassware, other than the dishes, is British; the dishes are probably from Alexandria in Egypt, the colours (black, white, yellow, blue, red) suggesting a date around AD 200. The copper alloy jugs and paterae, some silvered, are mainly 2nd century and possibly imported from Italy. All these were within a much larger burial pit, suggesting organic objects as well. The pit had nails at the corners, implying a timber box or frame to hold the contents, and the whole was covered with large flint nodules, interlocking at the edges. These nodules, which may have made up a cairn over the grave, had crushed the glassware, but largely prevented plough damage and dispersal.
The burial lay within an enclosure, part of an extensive area of cropmarks [6218], and was placed within an infilled ditch of earlier Roman date. For a well nearby see [18740].

<1> Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith, & Watters, Julian, 2015, A grave at Kelshall: recreating the glory of a wealthy Roman citizen; British Archaeology (May-June 2015), 14-21 (Article in serial). SHT6260.

Sources and further reading

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