Monument record 5811/0/4 - Beaker Burial, Warmington

A crouched Beaker inhumation burial of the early Bronze Age. An adult male, 35-45 years of age, lay in a flat grave, with no encircling barrow ditch. He was accompanied by a Beaker, two V-perforated jet buttons, a broken flint dagger, a flint fabricator and a barbed-and-tanged-arrowhead. The burial has been radiocarbon dated to the 20th century BC.

{1} Skeleton of a man 5ft 9in tall and aged between 35 and 45. He had a full set of teeth (although heavily worn) and his bones were in generally good condition. It is not possible to say how he died. Radiocarbon dating places his death at around 1920BC (+/- 400 years.) Grave goods included an intact Beaker urn, 7in high and decorated with fine incisions, a flint knife, a very fine flint barbed and tanged arrowhead, flint flakes and two polished and well-finished jet buttons.

{2} Burial found in shallow oval grave; no evidence of a ditch or round barrow was present although the shallowness of the grave might suggest that the topsoil had been removed when modern farmbuildings were erected. The skeleton was laid on its left side, facing north, with the knees drawn up towards the chest and the hands near the face: a typical crounched burial of the early Bronze Age. The man had been well fed during his life and this skeleton showed few signs of degeneration due to a physical lifestyle, suggesting that he was from the elite of Bronze Age society. The Beaker pot was well fired with smooth surfaces and was decorated with a complex design of multiple combed lines and chevrons filled with ladder patterns of fingernail impressions.

<1> 1997, Archaeology News Warmington, (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN107037.

<2> NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY, 2009?, Warmington's Oldest Resident, (unchecked) (Leaflet). SNN107038.

<3> Parry, S.; Dix, B. & Gibson, A., 2012, Flat-grave Beaker Burials at Warmington and Ashton, p. 223 (Article). SNN108362.

<4> Chapman A, 2015, Radiocarbon dates for beaker burials at Warmington and Ashton, p. 223 (Article). SNN110572.

Record last edited

Sep 17 2021 1:06PM