Monument record 7219/1 - Middle Saxon Cemetery, Great Houghton

Topsoil stripping of a pipeline route revealed 23 burials forming part of a Middle Saxon cemetery. One had been buried within a small timber mausoleum. There were no grave goods and all were aligned east to west. One burial has been radiocarbon dated to AD 655-705

{1} Topsoil stripping of a corridor 400m long by 15m wide revealed dense palimpest of features. At the west a group of 23 inhumation burials aligned west-east form the southern part of a probable late Roman cemetery of unknown extent. In one burial set slightly apart the fills of the large grave pit indicated the former presence of a wooden coffin, while post-pits at the corners held the uprights of a small timber mausoleum.

{2} The graves were all aligned east to west and all individuals had been buried with their heads to the west. Four burials had been disturbed by ploughing and only partially survived, and parts of others had also been lost. It is possible that further shallow burials have been lost to ploughing.
The graves were cut into limestone, apart from the E burial (267) which was on clay. The graves were typically steep sided and flat bottomed, those containing skulls measured from 19-2.14m long and 0.50-0.75m wide. They were typically 0.1-0.3m deep. Although the infant burials were no more than 0.05m deep. The majority were parallel sided although some of the northern graves tapered towards the foot end. The position of the skeletons and the narrow graves suggest that burials were not placed in coffins.
One burial has been dated to AD 655-705. The absence of grave goods with this suggests a Christian and not pagan Saxon cemetery.

A single burial at the SW corner of the cemetery lay within a possible timber mausoleum. The grave pit measured 2.25m x 1.15m and was near vertical sided with a flat bottom. The former presence of a coffin was denoted by a compact backfill of clean red clay containing some large cobbles, which was only present against the cut sides. Its steep inner face was associated with linear charcoal stains. This clean clay packing defined the coffin as measuring 1.9m-1.96m long x 0.66-0.68m wide. No iron coffin nails were present.
The burial had been laid supine and extended, but had been partly disarticulated. The left arm, the right ribs and vertebrae and the rightleg and pelvis remained in situ. All other bones had been displaced. The disarticulation may have been a result of the collapse of the coffin, however the extent of the disturbance suggests human disturbance.
At each corner of the grave there was a circular pit 0.4-0.5m diameter x 0.15-0.2m deep. The pits impinged slightly on the grave, indicating they had been dug after the backfilling of the grave. They presumably held timber uprights suggesting a mausoleum had surmounted the grave.

{3} The cemetery lay on a band of limestone that appeared to form a narrow near level platform on the sloping hillside. The burials occupied an area measuring 15m E-W by 11m N-S. The skeleton remains of 23 individuals were recovered from 22 grave cuts.
Twenty one of these were simple graves, while a probable timber mausoleum had marked the burial of one individual. The northern limit of the cemetery lay beyond the excavated area. The site may represent the southern end of a much larger cemetery. One burial has been dated to AD 655-705. The absence of grave goods with this suggests a Christian and not pagan Saxon cemetery.
There was very little intercutting of the graves. The northern burials were neatly arranged in 5 rows, with the graves between 0.3m -0.75m apart. The variations in the arrangement suggests the presence of four burial groups, a N group, SE group, S group and a mausoleum. The cemetery also contained a high incidence of traumatic injuries, particulary skull or limb fractures.One burial was set slightly apart from the rest of the cemetery, it had been within a wooden coffin in a large grave pit. Post-pits at the corners of the grave indicate the provision of a small timber mausoleum.

{4} Photographs of excavation of possible cemetery at Brackmills, Northampton.

<1> 1997, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter, p.39 (checked) (Journal). SNN100581.

<2> Chapman A., 2001, Excavation Of An Iron Age Settlement And A Middle Saxon Cemetery At Great Houghton, Northampton, 1996, p.16 (checked) (Report). SNN101158.

<3> Chapman A., 1996-7, Outer Northampton, Great Houghton/Brackmills, (unchecked) (Note). SNN104086.

<4> Kidd S., 1996, Photographs Taken During Monitoring Visit, (unchecked) (Photographs). SNN51642.

Record last edited

Oct 4 2019 1:25PM