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| Name: | Inhumations near The Plummery Wall, Reading, Berkshire |
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| HER Number: | 01022.08.400 |
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| Record Type: | Monument |
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Summary
Human bones from at least three individuals were recovered above a hearth during excavations of a section of the Plummery Wall.
Monument Type(s):
Description
A number of unburnt human bones from at least three individuals were recovered above a hearth during excavations of the Plummery Wall. No grave cut was recognised in the disturbed soil profile. Further investigations demonstrated at least some of the bones to derive from an articulated burial. Burial 1 comprised an intact, supine skeleton minus legs and part of the pelvis, which were amongst the bones originally recovered. These were orientated WSW-ENE, the position of the lower limbs previously removed suggesting an extended burial. The remains of a sheep skull (mature ram) lay 0.20m north-west of the head. The proximity of human and sheep remains at the same time level suggests a contemporaneous burial subsequently disturbed by burrowing although the conditions of the excavation make it impossible to exclude the possibility that the sheep was a subsequent insertion which caused the disturbance of the human remains. The human remains were of a female adult aged 40-60 years old. A radiocarbon assay on a sample of the human bone produced a date of cal AD 630-780 (68% confidence range). Visible only in section, additional human bones were located to the south-west of Burial 1, where they were sealed beneath landscaping work at the edge of the roundabout. The burial was apparently articulated and parallel to Burial 1, but only the teeth and mandible were recovered. No information on the burial type could be retrieved , and the association with Burial 1 is uncertain. An examination of the human remains suggested that they belonged to an older juvenile, possibly a male <1>.
<1> Trust For Wessex Archaeology, 1989?, Archaeological observations along the line of the Plummery Wall, Reading Abbey, 1987-1989, Pages 12-18 (Unpublished document). SRM13130.
Sources
| <1> | Trust For Wessex Archaeology. 1989?. Archaeological observations along the line of the Plummery Wall, Reading Abbey, 1987-1989. Pages 12-18. [Unpublished document / SRM13130] |
Associated Events:
| ERM493 | Forbury Roundabout, Reading (Ref: W181) |
Associated Monuments
| MRD1383 | Precinct Wall - Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire (Monument) |
Associated Finds:
FRD2637 - HUMAN REMAINS (Unknown date)FRM11963 - HUMAN REMAINS (Saxon - 630 AD to 780 AD) + Sci.DateSearch results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.