Abstract:This report describes Neolithic pottery dated 2730 bc and Beaker pottery found in apparently domestic contexts; and many Bronze Age funerary features. The latter begin with two food-vessel cremations and include two barrows about one of which were ten cremation graves. Close by were another 140 cremation graves, many yielding Deverel-Rimbury pottery. Carbon-14 dates indicate the use of this cemetery between 1556 bc and 762 bc.
“…1). However, the mean is highly skewed by the presence of 19 (5%) large cemeteries containing over 50 cremation burials, such as at Simons Ground, Dorset (White 1982); Bromfield, Shropshire (Stanford et al 1982; Hughes et al 1995); and Vinces Farm, Essex (Erith & Longworth 1960) (Table 1). On the other hand, there are 210 (55%) sites that contain fewer than five individual burials.…”
Section: Evaluating Middle Bronze Age Cremation Sitesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…There are notably few cremation burial sites in northern Britain, particularly in the region spanning north-east England and south-east Scotland (Warden et al 2016). When the distribution is analysed from the perspective of cemetery size, the most northerly Middle Bronze Age cremation burial cemetery with over 50 individuals is at Bromfield, Shropshire (Stanford et al 1982; Hughes et al 1995). Whilst the uneven distribution of excavations and research needs to be considered (see Green et al 2017), this north–south division is nonetheless striking.Fig.…”
Section: Evaluating Middle Bronze Age Cremation Sitesmentioning
The Middle Bronze Age (c. 1600–1150 cal bc) in Britain is traditionally understood to represent a major funerary transition. This is a transformation from a heterogeneous funerary rite, largely encompassing inhumations and cremations in burial mounds and often accompanied by grave goods, to a homogeneous and unadorned cremation-based practice. Despite a huge expansion in the number of well excavated, radiocarbon dated, and osteologically analysed sites in the last three decades, current interpretations of Middle Bronze Age cremation burials still rely upon a seminal paper by Ellison (1980), which proposed that they comprise and represent an entire community. This paper analyses 378 cremation sites containing at least 3133 burials which represent all those that can be confidently dated to the Middle Bronze Age in Britain. The new analysis demonstrates that relatively few sites can be characterised as community cemeteries and that there are substantially more contemporary settlement sites, though few contemporary settlements are in close proximity to the cemeteries. The identifiable characteristics of cremation-based funerary practices are consistent across Britain with little evidence for social differentiation at the point of burial. It is also evident that only a minority of the population received a cremation burial. There is a substantial decrease in archaeologically visible funerary activity from the preceding Early Bronze Age (c. 2200–1600 cal bc) and a further decrease in the proceeding Late Bronze Age (c. 1150–800 cal bc) in Britain. This is comparable in form, and partially in sequence, to Bronze Age funerary practices in Ireland and several regions in North-west Europe.
“…1). However, the mean is highly skewed by the presence of 19 (5%) large cemeteries containing over 50 cremation burials, such as at Simons Ground, Dorset (White 1982); Bromfield, Shropshire (Stanford et al 1982; Hughes et al 1995); and Vinces Farm, Essex (Erith & Longworth 1960) (Table 1). On the other hand, there are 210 (55%) sites that contain fewer than five individual burials.…”
Section: Evaluating Middle Bronze Age Cremation Sitesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…There are notably few cremation burial sites in northern Britain, particularly in the region spanning north-east England and south-east Scotland (Warden et al 2016). When the distribution is analysed from the perspective of cemetery size, the most northerly Middle Bronze Age cremation burial cemetery with over 50 individuals is at Bromfield, Shropshire (Stanford et al 1982; Hughes et al 1995). Whilst the uneven distribution of excavations and research needs to be considered (see Green et al 2017), this north–south division is nonetheless striking.Fig.…”
Section: Evaluating Middle Bronze Age Cremation Sitesmentioning
The Middle Bronze Age (c. 1600–1150 cal bc) in Britain is traditionally understood to represent a major funerary transition. This is a transformation from a heterogeneous funerary rite, largely encompassing inhumations and cremations in burial mounds and often accompanied by grave goods, to a homogeneous and unadorned cremation-based practice. Despite a huge expansion in the number of well excavated, radiocarbon dated, and osteologically analysed sites in the last three decades, current interpretations of Middle Bronze Age cremation burials still rely upon a seminal paper by Ellison (1980), which proposed that they comprise and represent an entire community. This paper analyses 378 cremation sites containing at least 3133 burials which represent all those that can be confidently dated to the Middle Bronze Age in Britain. The new analysis demonstrates that relatively few sites can be characterised as community cemeteries and that there are substantially more contemporary settlement sites, though few contemporary settlements are in close proximity to the cemeteries. The identifiable characteristics of cremation-based funerary practices are consistent across Britain with little evidence for social differentiation at the point of burial. It is also evident that only a minority of the population received a cremation burial. There is a substantial decrease in archaeologically visible funerary activity from the preceding Early Bronze Age (c. 2200–1600 cal bc) and a further decrease in the proceeding Late Bronze Age (c. 1150–800 cal bc) in Britain. This is comparable in form, and partially in sequence, to Bronze Age funerary practices in Ireland and several regions in North-west Europe.
“…No handles of any kind are apparent in this assemblage as seen at other cemeteries, for example Ardleigh, Essex (Erith and Longworth i960) or Bromfield, Shropshire (Stanford 1982). Pottery from Coneygre Farm, Pasture Lodge Farm and from the Frieston and Grantham sites is broadly comparable with Deverel-Rimbury ware from other Bronze Age cemeteries and settlements.…”
Two Bronze Age cremation cemeteries excavated between 1968 and 1975 are reported and discussed. At Coneygre Farm, Notts., fifty-one cremations were excavated, thirty-one in pots, six in cists, and fourteen uncontained. Cremations were deposited in a roughly linear arrangement and no barrow was found. At Pasture Lodge Farm, Lines., twenty-seven pots were found, of which twenty-five had associated cremations, and fifteen further sherds could represent burials. Vessels in this cemetery form a small cluster. Pottery from these two cemeteries is broadly similar to Deverel-Rimbury ware and with vessels from other sites in the region is considered to form an East Midlands group of Bronze Age pottery. Vessels of this type from Frieston and Grantham, Lines., are illustrated for the first time. Examination of thin sections of the pottery from the two cemeteries suggests that most, although not all, of the materials used could have been found locally. Organic remains found in thin sections provide environmental information. The effect of soils on durability of pots and their probable function is discussed. A direct relationship is noticed for the first time between the age of the cremated individual and the capacity of the pot in which the cremation was deposited.
“…Much closer, in form if not in proximity, is a vessel from Rimbury, Dorset, which also has the grooves above and below the raised fingernailimpressed cordon (Tomalin 1984, 451). Vessel P40 from Bromfield, Shropshire (Stanford 1982) has the same narrow profile as Glanfeinion vessel 2 but appears to lack the attendant grooves.…”
Section: Stylistic Affinities Of the Assemblagementioning
Small-scale rescue excavations during the course of pipeline construction have revealed a single Middle Bronze Age round-house, ring-ditch, and pits on a lowland site in the upper Severn valley with associated radiocarbon determinations which suggest a date within the range 1400–1170 cal BC. Associated finds include a large assemblage of charred naked barley and plain and decorated vessels of cordoned, bucket, and barrel urn traditions, together with a quern and a rubbing stone. The round-house, the first building of this date to be found in central Wales, can be paralleled with ones of similar date elsewhere, especially in southern England.
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