Loose Howe; A North Yorkshire Log Coffin Boat Burial(s) Revisited

In 1937 a large barrow in north‐east Yorkshire was excavated by Mrs H. W. and Dr F. Elgee. A primary deposit comprising a ‘canoe’‐shaped log coffin and what were described as two ‘log boats’ or ‘canoes’ was uncovered beneath the mound. The burial did not survive; however, the ‘canoe’‐shaped coffin was found to contain an Early Bronze Age Merthyr Mawr‐type dagger, flints and some hazelnuts. Subsequently, a cremation was inserted into the top of the mound. This was accompanied by a Camerton‐Snowshill‐type dagger, a stone battle axe, a copper alloy pin, an accessory vessel and fragments from a Collared Urn. As part of a log coffin radiocarbon‐dating project, one of the hazelnuts was radiocarbon‐dated to 2008–1772 cal BC (95.4%) and a fragment of cremated bone from the secondary burial was dated to 1890–1741 cal BC (93.2%). This paper discusses the dating results and reconsiders the interpretation of the log coffin as a boat.     

Later Neolithic Woodland and Regeneration in the Long Barrow Ditch Fills of the Avebury Area: The Molluscan Evidence

Modern data on molluscan migration rates are applied to the sub-fossil record obtained from Neolithic long barrow ditch fills of the Averbury region. It is demonstrated that it is theoretically possible to consider the maximum and minimum distances of woodland from a number of long barrow sites. The problems and potential of such calculations are addressed.     

Saucer Barrows: Places for Ritual within Wessex Early Bronze Age Chalkland Barrow Cemeteries

The Bronze Age barrow groups of Wessex have primarily been classified as places of burial where lineages were marked and mourners deployed to create mythologized links with the recently dead and the ancestors. These chalkland barrow cemeteries are associated with a range of barrow forms – bowl barrows and ‘fancy’ barrows, the latter comprising disc, bell, pond and saucer types. Whilst funerary activity was undoubtedly an important activity within these barrow groups, this paper examines the evidence for other forms of ritual practice within one particular barrow type, the saucer barrow, and considers whether there was more to ritual activity in Wessex barrow cemeteries than the disposal of the dead and the commemoration of ancestors.     

A geoarchaeological evaluation of a reported late Pleistocene human burial from Brazoria County,Texas

The skeleton of a human adult female was excavated from alluvial sediments along the Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas. She was buried face down in an extended position with her hands crossed beneath the waist. Initial radiocarbon ages indicated that this skeleton dated to the late Pleistocene. Geoarchaeological and archaeological excavations at the site, coupled with new radiocarbon ages, amino acid compositional data, and an analysis of the previously reported radiocarbon ages obtained from the skeleton instead suggest a middle Holocene age for this burial.     

Original DocumentsRalph Lord Cromwell

The excavation of four ploughed-out round barrows in Milton Keynes has produced evidence of relevance to barrow design, ceramic chronology, economy, settlement patterns and population in the second millennium B.C.

The chronological usefulness of Longworth's Collared Urn Classification is considered and a long survival of All-Over-Cord Beaker tradition in southern Britain is suggested. Three of the sites produced a mixed flint assemblage ranging in date from Mesolithic to Bronze Age. A local pastoral economy, possibly associated with transhumance, is indicated at two sites. It is suggested that barrow distribution coincided with settlement distribution. An estimate is made of the proportion of the population who received barrow burial and a formula is derived for computing the size of local Bronze Age populations.     

A Rich Bell Beaker Burial from Wellington Quarry, Marden, Herefordshire

An intact Bell Beaker grave was discovered in February 1996 at Wellington Quarry, Marden, Herefordshire. The unmarked flat grave had no signs of a ditch or barrow, but may have been timber lined. It contained a tanged copper knife, a shale wristguard fragment, four barbed and tanged arrowheads, three arrowhead blanks, three flint knives, two triangular points or small daggers and four flint flakes. The adult male inhumation was accompanied by a complete, Maritime (AOO) Bell Beaker and may be dated to 2750–2500 BC (Late Neolithic). It belongs to Case's Group D. A notable feature of the grave goods is their different states of wear and completeness, varying from pristine to old, and including a fragment of a wristguard.     

Excavation and pollen analysis on a bell barrow at ascot,berkshire

The paper describes the partial excavation of a bell barrow, associated with a single radiocarbon date in the 15th century bc. Pollen analysis is employed to elucidate details of the barrow's manner and sequence of construction. Investigation of the buried soil revealed a long period of human interference culminating in a phase of cereal cultivation. This may correspond with a series of possible furrows in the old land surface.     

The girl with the chariot medallion: a well-furnished,Late Iron Age Durotrigian burial from Langton Herring,Dorset

A well-furnished, Late Iron Age Durotrigian burial was found in 2010 by a metal-detectorist at Langton Herring in Dorset. This report examines all aspects of the discovery, paying particular attention to the skeletal remains, a female aged 19–24, providing the most complete, osteobiographical study of an individual buried with a mirror assemblage from the European Iron Age. A combination of artefacts and radiocarbon dating gives a range for the burial of c.AD 25 – cal AD 53. The grave goods themselves are of exceptional interest, representing an accumulation of artefacts acquired from diverse sources, deposited at a time of major cultural and societal change in southern Britain. The results of a geophysical survey are also presented, together with a discussion of additional well-furnished burials in the Durotrigian tribal tradition, which place the burial deposit within a wider social and landscape framework.     

Kyordyughen Site,Ymyiakhtakh Culture,Yakutia: An Interpretation of Burial Rite

A series of radiocarbon dates for the Late Neolithic burial at Kyordyughen, Yakutia, support its association with the Ymyiakhtakh culture. The article proposes a new interpretation of the burial rite in the context of the site. Possible reasons for the disruption of the burial are presented. The presence of the dismembered remains of another body may indicate the practice of human sacrifice. The emergence of warriors as a social group is discussed, and the question is raised as to whether such a group might have been present in the Late Neolithic societies of northeast Asia on the basis of evidence favoring social differentiation with regard to military status.     

The Living and The Dead,Memory and Transition: Bayesian Modelling of Mesolithic and Neolithic Deposits from Vlasac,the Danube Gorges

The paper applies Bayesian statistical modelling to radiocarbon dates obtained for a stratigraphic sequence comprising occupation features and superimposed burials from the Late Mesolithic (c.7400–6200 cal BC) to the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition (c.6200–5900 cal BC), from Vlasac in the Danube Gorges region of the north‐central Balkans. This sequence, investigated in the course of excavations at the site in 2006–9, yielded stratigraphic evidence of the transformation of local forager populations as a result of contact with Neolithic communities. Our paper provides a reliable chronological framework for changes from Late Mesolithic burial rites to new, Neolithic types of ornamental beads at the top of the sequence. The use of the same burial location and continuities in burial rites over a considerable period of time raise significant questions about the role of tradition and the potential for enduring practices in prehistoric societies.     

Cwrt Llechrhyd,Llanelwedd: An Unusual Moated Site in Central Powys

SMALL-SCALE EXCAVATIONS in June 1983 at Cwrt Llechrhyd, Llanelwedd, an unusually large moated site in central Powys, showed the ditch to be shallow and flat-bottomed, with an internal bank of simple dump construction, lacking obvious signs of timbering or stone revetments. No artefacts were recovered, but charcoal from the base of the bank produced a radiocarbon result suggesting a Dark-Age date for the construction of the monument. The historical background and possible parallels to the site are examined in the light of this evidence.     

TREGIFFIAN: THE CHRONOLOGY OF AN ENTRANCE GRAVE

The Tregiffian project involved the analysis and dating of the archive from unpublished excavations in the 1960s and 1970s at an entrance grave in Penwith, Cornwall. A major aim of the project was to establish a robust chronological basis for the use of the entrance grave for burial: 10 samples of cremated human bone were submitted for radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling undertaken. The modelling indicates that the use of the chamber for burial between began in 1780–1510 BC and ended in 1595–1425 BC. The results are hugely significant as they provide the first modelled dating from a Penwith entrance grave. This paper discusses the results from the radiocarbon dating project and reconsiders entrance graves in the wider context of the Early Bronze Age megalithic tombs which are found around the Irish Sea.     

Golden Biographies: The Production,Curation, Fragmentation and Deposition of the Armorican-Type Rolled-Gold Bead-Like Ornaments found at Pendleton,Lancashire

A rare Chalcolithic rolled-gold bead-like ornament dated to c. 2400–2200 cal. BC was found in association with sherds of early Beaker ware in an Early Bronze Age Collared Urn burial dated to c. 1545–1450 cal. BC. The grave was located at Pendleton, Lancashire. This paper reports on the AMS radiocarbon dates for the burial context along with X-ray composition analysis of the gold ornament, which shows the object had a high platinum content consistent with alluvial, placer, deposits possibly originating in Brittany, France rather than the British Isles. This unparalleled rolled-gold ornament is compared to the corpus of British and French rolled-gold ornaments and contemporary goldwork and a provenance, manufacture and biography of the find is explored. Both curation and fragmentation are considered in the context of a dated Beaker ware assemblage from the local domestic site of Lower Brockholes, Preston, as well as existing corpora of Beaker and Collared Urn ware from the region.     

Notices of New publications

This paper records the excavation of a ploughed-out round barrow (ring-ditch) at Ravenstone, Buckinghamshire (SP 8535 4895). The circular ditch (12.0 m diameter) was broken by four narrow causeways. Two graves were located at the centre of the monument. The primary grave was apparently a cenotaph, for although a coffin, an antler spatula and a flint fabricator were discovered, no skeletal material was found. The secondary grave contained the crouched inhumation of a woman, accompanied by grave goods. Finds from both graves suggest leather-working. A four-post structure (3.60 m square) may have existed on the site prior to the barrow's construction. A substantial quantity of worked flint came from the excavated area, and small pits contained flints of late Neolithic and pottery of Iron Age date. The excavation records are housed at the Buckinghamshire County Museum, as CAS 2555 in the Sites and Monuments Record, and the finds as L.301.     

Radiocarbon Dates on Textile and Bark Samples from the Central Grave of the Adena Mound (33RO1), Chillicothe,Ohio

The Adena Mound (33RO1) is the type site of the Adena culture, yet there have been no radiocarbon dates to place it reliably within a temporal framework. Fortunately, the artifact collection, curated by the Ohio Historical Society, includes objects that are highly suitable for radiocarbon dating, including fragments of textiles and tree bark associated with the central burial. We selected a textile fragment and two bark fragments for radiocarbon dating. The textile exhibits alternate pair twine with very fine yarns probably composed of cellulose bast fibers. The bark is from a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) tree. The results of the radiocarbon dating indicate that the Adena Mound was constructed between the end of the second century B.C. and the beginning of the first century A.D., placing it near the midpoint in the sequence of radiocarbon-dated Adena culture sites. This study demonstrates the value of museum collections for gleaning new data from curated materials.     

Twenty-First Annual Meeting,Ipswich

Abstract

Lodge Farm is a stone first-floor hall house of the early fifteenth century built for Henry V or VI. Documentary sources suggest that it was the residence of the head park keeper, warrener and forester of Kingston Lacy manor.

Refurbishment of the building in 1986–9 was accompanied by a full archaeological and photographic survey. Archaeological excavation, in advance of underpinning, revealed archaeological features below the foundations. Ditches and post-holes contained pottery dating to the Early Iron Age. Two lengths of ditch, separated by a causeway, are interpreted as part of a deer park boundary. The fillings of the deer-park ditches contained building debris of thirteenth- to fifteenth-century-date, probably from an earlier lodge. A dump of fallow deer antlers within the north ditch filling was dated by radiocarbon analysis to A.D. 1325–1415 A.D. at I sigma.

A study of documentary sources shows Lodge Farm to be an important building within the hunting land of the medieval manor of Kingston Lacy which, in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, was associated with rabbit farming.     

Late pre‐Islamic burials at Mleiha,Emirate of Sharjah (UAE)

The history of two monumental grave buildings (nos. 4 and 5), excavated in area P of the late pre‐Islamic city of Mleiha, has been studied in detail. Like all other tombs excavated up to the present day in Mleiha, their chambers had been emptied in ancient times. They were found devoid of human remains and grave‐goods. In the upper parts of the grave fills, however, skeletal remains were encountered. One of the skeletons was radiocarbon dated to AD 623–656, the time of the Islamisation of south‐east Arabia. A radiocarbon date of 384–233 BC for a wooden beam from the same tomb showed that it was built during the late pre‐Islamic period (PIR‐A). These dates and stratigraphic observations made clear that the interments were intrusive. The surrounding sediments were deposited by flooding. Directly underneath the skull of the dated skeleton, a layer of sandy loam was encountered, showing mud cracks. To understand the relationship between the burial and these deposits, micromorphological analyses of the surrounding sediments were conducted. The microstructural organisation of the sedimentary components implied that the skull was interred as part of a burial, and not deposited by natural processes.     

The significance of orientation elements in iron age burial customs at Voss: A tentative interpretation

After defining the concept ‘orientation elements’ in Iron Age burial customs and summarising the main theories about the Norwegian material in general, the author considers the material from the district of Voss in Western Norway where the data from the finds is more interesting than usual. She attempts to show that the local topographical conditions have played a much larger role in orientation than has usually been maintained, and further suggests that orientation may reflect a ceremonial pattern determined by religious ideas arising out of the belief in ‘haugbu’ (barrow‐dwellers).     

Invited response to K. Ryan’s comments on Coltrain et al. (2004) and Coltrain (2009): is Native Point “Burial 21” Dorset in age; were historic-era burials European in origin and how important were caribou in Sadlermiut diets?

This is an invited to response to K. Ryan’s comments on Coltrain et al. (2004) and Coltrain (2009). Both publications present stable isotope data and AMS radiocarbon dates on a suite of eastern Arctic burials from three sites in north-western Hudson Bay. In these articles, we examined the importance of bowhead whaling among Thule foragers at Silimiut and Kamarvik and contrasted their subsistence strategies with those of the proto-historic Sadlermiut, using the stable and radio-isotope chemistry of purified bone collagen to monitor variability in resource acquisition over time. Ryan dismisses a Dorset-era radiocarbon date on a burial collected by Collins from the T-1 site asserting that a single radiocarbon measurement is not a reliable indicator of age and thus the burial is Sadlermiut not Dorset. She also contests our assessment that two historic-era individuals in the Sadlermiut mortuary assemblage were either European or consumed diets relatively high in European foods. Ryan further argues that our reconstruction of protohistoric Sadlermiut diets is not in keeping with the archaeofaunal record. Her primary concern is a perceived lack of agreement between a subset of our findings and the archaeological record.