St. Peter's Church, Barton-upon-Humber: Excavation and Structural Study, 1978–81

Abstract

SummaryFour seasons of excavation and structural study in St. Peter's Church have revealed a complex sequence, beginning with domestic occupation of the Pagan Saxon period, followed by a Middle Saxon settlement enclosure with adjacent cemetery of Christian character. In the later tenth century a three-celled turriform church was built in the cemetery, after the exhumation of graves covering its intended site. Related features in the cemetery include the foundation of a large free-standing cross, a group of wells and an oven, probably for baking bread, all grouped to the east of the chancel. Some of the pre-Conquest graves yielded evidence of probable barkwood coffins built with clenches and roves, while some twenty further graves contained rectangular timber coffins in varying states of preservation. Several were in near-perfect condition and have yielded exceptionally good evidence for techniques and tools employed by Anglo-Saxon carpenters.The extant Saxon and medieval fabric of the church has been recorded in considerable detail, providing an insight into building and scaffolding methods, particularly of the tenth century. Excavation has revealed the complex development of the medieval church and its internal layout; and 1,326 graves, spanning a millennium, have been investigated.

Chest Burial: A Middle Anglo‐saxon Funerary Rite From Northern England

“…Nails were also rare at The Castle, Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne (Tyne and Wear), where skeleton 644 was interred in a chest with only two nails, which was ‘clearly not nailed together’ (Ottaway 2010, 274). This evidence is consistent with the known construction of contemporary coffins at Barton‐upon‐Humber, which were also of peg and dowel construction (Rodwell and Rodwell 1982, 301), and indicates a consistency in the manufacturing method of both forms of funerary container. Evidence for the dimensions of chests is very limited.…”

“…Containers for the body were used throughout the entire period from the fifth to eleventh century, but they appear more frequently in interments from the mid‐seventh century, at the point when the early Anglo‐Saxon furnished funerary rite declines (Daniell 1997, 163–5; Hadley 2000a, 209; 2000b, 163; Lucy 2000, 102; Thompson 2004, 124; Hadley and Buckberry 2005, 132–5; Buckberry 2007). The variety of containers for the body also increases during this period to incorporate a wider range of container forms; stone coffins and grave linings, wooden coffins jointed with iron nails or wooden dowels, and wooden chests with a variety of metal fittings have all been encountered in cemeteries dating from the seventh to tenth century (Rodwell and Rodwell 1982, 301; Hadley 2000b, 163–4; Buckberry 2007).…”

Field anthropology: application to burial contexts in prehistoric Southeast Asia

“…1 was drawn up to show how multiple possible interpretations were considered. This chart was based on a range of studies (Boddington, 1987;Brothwell, 1987;Duday, 2006;Duday et al, 1990a;Murail et al, 2004;Nilsson Stutz, 2003a, 2003bPautreau et al, 2004;Peressinotto et al, 2004;Rodriguez and Bass, 1985;Rodwell, 1981Rodwell, , 1982Rogers et al, 2004;Roksandic, 2002;Valentin et al, 2000). The skull position was not able to be included as the position of the cervical vertebrae was frequently obscured in the photographs.…”

Seeking the Physical Remains of the Criminal Corpse

“…Thanks to the insertion of a wooden stake in place of the spine, packing possibly with grass or moss, and sewing the remains together, a more human-looking 'body' was created for burial. 12 But many of the remains of criminal corpses created and punished under the Act were not laid to rest in these ways. Even in the cases in which the remains of Murder Act corpses may have been buried, burial was perfunctory and did not include family or friends of the deceased and probably paid only minimal attention to religious rites.…”