Monument record 726/16/1 - Extra-mural Roman burials south of Richmond Rd, Towcester

Group of burials located outside the 2nd century defences

{1-3} 4 burials recovered from trench 4 of trial excavation. Decapitated supine inhumation cut into a layer of grey/brown silty clay (animal bones were also found in the grave, but were probably accidental inclusion rather than a funeral practice), directly below was a second supine burial with head intact. Disarticulated bones from at least 2 further inhumations were present at the upper level.,An articulated prone human burial was encountered aligned north-south, no grave cut could be identified due to the similarity of the fill and the surrounding layer. The burial was not further investigated.,Remains of two supine adult inhumation recovered from trench 8. The skeletons were both aligned approximately south-west to north-east and lay within the surviving base of grave pits.

{4} A total of 28 inhumations and one un-urned cremation recovered from subsequent area excavation. Probably dating to late 1st or early 2nd Century AD

{5}28 inhumations and 1 unurned cremation were recorded in excavations to the south of Richmond Road. The majority of these were located in separate plots some 30m south of the defences and 60m back from the line of Watling Street. Again it is debatable as to whether this group, scattered and associated with a number of separate bounded plots as it is, can be considered a cemetery in the formal sense.

Radiocarbon dates have been obtained for three burials,two from the main group of burials at the eastern end of the site, and one from the multiple burial group, to the west . One from the main group and one from the multiple burial have closely comparable dates, and these indicate that use of the area for burial might have begun early in the 2nd century AD, although a date somewhere between the mid-2nd to mid 3rd centuries is perhaps more likely. Burial may, therefore, have begun before the construction of the town defences, and certainly continued well into the late Roman period. The other burial from the main group could date to anywhere between the late 3rd to early 6th centuries, but an early 4th to early 5th century date is most likely. Use of these areas for burial could span, therefore, over 250 years, from the mid-2nd century to the early 5th century AD.

{8} Of the burials, most that could be sexed were male- only the two double burials and two isolated cremations were female. Only four four burials were not of adults. There were two children under 13 and two male juveniles.

<1> Meadows I., 1997, Interim Report on An Archaeological Evaluation Off Water Lane and Richmond Road, Towcester: Trial Excavation- Stage 3, (unchecked) (Report). SNN45795.

<2> Soden I.; Parry S., 1997, An Archaeological Evaluation of Land Off Water Lane Towcester, Northamptonshire, March 1997, (unchecked) (Report). SNN46542.

<4> CHAPMAN A., 1998-9, Towcester, Water Lane, (unchecked) (Note). SNN104049.

<5> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, Section 3.5 (Report). SNN103132.

<6> Anderson T., 2001, A Case Of Skeletal Tuberculosis From Roman Towcester, p.444-446 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102073.

<7> Anderson T., 2001, Two Decapitations From Roman Towcester, (unchecked) (Article). SNN102072.

<8> Thompson, A. & Chapman, P., 2013, Roman settlement and Burial at Water Lane, Towcester, Northamptonshire Excavations 1997-98 (Report). SNN108517.

<9> Thompson, A. & Chapman, P., 2013, Roman settlement and Burial at Water Lane, Towcester, Northamptonshire Excavations 1997-98 Appendices (Report). SNN108519.

<10> Woodfield C., 1998 (circa), Water Lane, Towcester, 1998: Catalogue of Illustrated Late Iron Age and Roman Pottery, (unchecked) (Report). SNN106200.

<11> Soden, I, 1997, Interim report on an archaeological evaluation off Water Lane and Richmond Road, Towcester, Trial Excavation - Stage 2 (Report). SNN111169.

Record last edited

Apr 19 2023 3:10PM