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Summary

A group of four Bronze Age cremations were found during topsoil stripping. Together with a group of small pits or postholes, these were clustered around a linear feature

Full description

PRN 64421
The remains of four cremation vessels, all dated to the late Bronze Age were found during topsoil stripping. Together with a group of small pits or postholes, these were clustered around a linear feature. Two of these could be seen to be within definite, if very shallow, cut features. The best preserved of the urns contained a small amount of poorly preserved cremated bone and no age or sex could be attributed to the individual. Another urn was heavily truncated so that only its base survived. Very little of the fill remained and analysis of the cremated bone was not possible. The other two urns were visible in the stripped surface but they had been heavily truncated and the cuts of the two pits in which they has been presumably buried could no longer be made out. The contents of one of them yielded a small sample of human bone, but again this was poorly preserved and no sex or age could be attributed to the individual. None of the contents of the fourth urn remained to be sampled. Another circular feature, originally interpreted as a cremation site, was excavated. Its fill contained very high concentrations of charcoal, burnt clay and bone. However, there were no traces of any cremation urn, and it is more likely that this was a pyre from which the bone had been retrieved for burial. The gully was aligned north to south aligned, running for 40m. This feature averaged 1m wide and 16cm deep. A considerable quantity of Bronze Age pottery, probably all from the same vessel, was recovered from one of its three excavated sections. Lying close by was a series of postholes or shallow pits, without clear function and undated. Assuming that the gully was broadly contemporary with the cremations, it may have formed a boundary demarcating the cremation area. The urns and the pyre lay to the west of it, with all but one of the posthole-like features to the east. It is likely that this late Bronze Age cremation cemetery and pyre site was fairly close to a settlement which it served.{1}{2}

<1> Network Archaeology Ltd, Apr 2003, Archaeological Evaluation, Excavation and Watching Brief on the Hatton to Silk Willoughby Gas Pipeline 2001, HAT00 (Report). SLI11206.

<2> Network Archaeology Ltd, Apr 2003, Archaeological Evaluation, Excavation and Watching Brief on the Hatton to Silk Willoughby Gas Pipeline 2001, LCNCC 2000.102 (Archive). SLI11207.

Monument Types

• CREMATION (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• CREMATION CEMETERY (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• DITCH (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• FUNERAL PYRE (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• PIT (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• POST HOLE (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)

Associated Finds

• CINERARY URN (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)

Associated Events

• Archaeological watching brief, Hatton to Silk Willoughby Gas Pipeline
• Archaeological excavations on the Hatton to Silk Willoughby Gas Pipeline

Sources and further reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.