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Summary

Romano-British cemetery site, to the west of the Roman town of Ancaster.

Full description

A Romano-British cemetery lies to the west of the town walls, partially covered by the modern cemetery of St Martins. There were 'more than 300 adult burials recovered'. The burials were predominantly aligned on an east to west axis, with the heads to the west. The form of the graves varies from simple rectangular pits to stone sarcophagi. Grave goods were infrequent, and where present tended to be personal ornaments....'. {1}{2}

A lead coffin containing an adult male skeleton was excavated in 1984. No grave goods were present and, unusually, no evidence for an outer casing to the coffin was observed. {3}

The Roman town and cemeteries at Ancaster were the subject of a three-day archaeological investigation by the television programme 'Time Team', in September 2001. The investigation commenced with a programme of systematic field walking, followed by geophysical survey, landscape survey and trial trench excavation:
The magnetometry survey identified numerous strong magnetic anomalies in the area to the south of the modern cemetery at Church Lane (area A1). These were interpreted as a number of possible kilns or funeral pyres, likely associated with the known Roman cemetery in this area. A linear anomaly was also recorded to the north of the modern cemetery (area A2). This was thought to represent the northern boundary of the Roman cemetery.
Three trial trenches were excavated in this area:
Trench 1 was positioned over one of the strong geophysical anomalies previously identified to the south of the modern cemetery, and encountered a very hard layer of iron rich material, intially thought to be natural iron pan, but later revealed to be the product of high temperature events. Below this layer was a square ended feature, from which a large quantity of Roman pottery was recovered. At the western end of the trench were numerous layers of charcoal and sand, overlying a hard pebble surface. Given the lack of pottery wasters, and the indications of high temperature activity, it was thought that this area was used as a site for cremation pyres.
Trench 2 was excavated to the north of the modern cemetery, to investigate the linear anomaly identified by the magnetometry survey. Excavation confirmed that the presence of burials to the south of this feature only, and supported its interpretation as the northern boundary of the Roman cemetery. A cist burial, formed of stone slabs and containing a complete skeleton, was recorded to the south of the boundary ditch. The skeleton was that of an elderly adult male, between 162cm and 170cm in height, and at least 60 years in age at the time of death. The skeleton showed evidence of poor dental hygiene, with all the upper teeth having been lost, which would have made chewing food difficult. The individual had a mildly osteoarthritic spine, but had severe osteoarthritis in the wrists, especially the right, which would have caused some restriction of movement. The individual had also suffered a broken leg, at least some years before his death, though this had healed well, indicating that the injury had been splinted. Whilst no grave goods were recovered with the skeleton, one of the cist slabs was inscribed with the letters 'DEO VRID' on the first line, and 'SANCT' on the second, which has been interpreted as meaning 'To the holy God Viridios', and would indicate the stone's former use as an altar.
Trench 3 was excavated to investigate another of the geophysical anomalies previously identified to the south of the modern cemetery, and recorded the remains of a linear ditch, aligned on an east to west axis. An inhumation was found at the base of this ditch, surrounded by a rough cist of limestone pieces. The recovered skeleton was largely complete, though fragmentary, and was of a mature adult male, between 173cm and 181cm in height. The individual had poor dental hygeine, with some tooth loss, and also had osteoarthritis in his neck, spine and right shoulder. {4}{5}{6}

<1> RODWELL, W. AND ROWLEY, R.T., 1975, SMALL TOWNS OF ROMAN BRITAIN (Bibliographic Reference). SLI1095.

<2> BARLEY, M.W. ET AL, 1963-68, PARISH FILE (Unpublished Document). SLI4611.

<3> Field, N, 1991, Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, pp.32-3 (Article in Serial). SLI8293.

<4> GSB Prospection, 2001, Geophysical Survey at Ancaster Roman Town and Cemetery, Area A (Report). SLI12003.

<5> Time Team, 2008, Ancaster Roman Town and Cemetery, TT site code: ANC01 (Report). SLI8710.

<6> Time Team, 2008, Ancaster Roman Town and Cemetery, LCNCC 2001.257 and LCNCC 2001.258 (Archive). SLI8712.

Monument Types

• BOUNDARY DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BURIAL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• CEMETERY (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• CIST (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• CREMATION? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FUNERAL PYRE? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• INHUMATION (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• KILN? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• SHERD (Late Iron Age to Roman - 100 BC to 409 AD)
• CARVED OBJECT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• COFFIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Events

• Land at the Roman Cemetery
• Excavations of western Roman cemetery
• Excavations at Ancaster Roman Town and Cemetery
• Geophysical Survey at Ancaster Roman Town and Cemetery

Protected Status

• SHINE

Sources and further reading

Related records

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