Monument record 2412/1 - Two Beaker Burials, Ashton

Two Beaker pit graves were recorded during archaeological rescue excavation in the 1980s. The burials lay c60 apart.

{1} Prehistoric remains included two beaker pit-graves.

{2} In one place graves of the late Roman cemetery had disturbed a Beaker burial.

{3} The two burials lay on the south-western edge of the excavation area c60m apart. Burial 1 was poorly reserved precluding any identification of sex or age at death. A group of five mainly undistinguished flints and a comb-impressed Beaker were also found in the grave pit. Traces of some form of cover on top of the corpse were preserved in three strips of oak-bark. The body appears to have lain exposed in the grave before being finally covered with earth. Burial 2 was located within the north-western part of the later Roman cemetery. Two of the Roman graves had truncated this burial, destroying the upper part of the body and disturbing the Beaker vessel. The skeleton was that of a young male who had died between the ages of 17 and 25. Bones were submitted for radiocarbon dating.

{4} The radiocarbon date for Burial 2 was 2150-1730 cal BC @ 95% confidence.

<1> DIX B., 1988, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Note). SNN49562.

<2> DIX B., Ashton Roman Town, (checked) (Note). SNN44372.

<3> Parry, S.; Dix, B. & Gibson, A., 2012, Flat-grave Beaker Burials at Warmington and Ashton (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 1:57PM