CANNINGTON CEMETERY. Excavations of prehistoric, Roman, post-roman, and later features at Cannington Park Quarry, near Bridgwater, Somerset

Transcription

1 CANNINGTON CEMETERY Excavations of prehistoric, Roman, post-roman, and later features at Cannington Park Quarry, near Bridgwater, Somerset BY Philip Rahtz, Sue Hirst and Susan M Wright With specialist contributions by the late F W Anderson, A M ApSimon, J Bayley, L Biek, the late G CfBoon, the late T Briscoe, D R Brothwell, "E Fowler, M G Fulford, S Gauthier, J Graham-Campbell, the late M Guido, M P Heyworth, D R Hughes, K Izard, P J Leach, D F Mackreth, K Manchester, J G McDonnell, S Payne, DPS Peacock, R Powers, J Price, M J G Russell, A Saville, D Sherlock, I F Smith, A J Walker, D F Williams Britannia Monograph Series No. 17 Published by the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Senate House Malet Street London WCIE 7HU 2000

2 CONTENTS List of Figures List of Tables Page xv xxi SUMMARY xxiii INTRODUCTION 1 Abbreviations 2 Acknowledgements 3 CHAPTER. 1: THE SITE AND ITS PREVIOUS HISTORY THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE AREA._ 7 THE GEOLOGY (the late F W Anderson) 9 THEHILLFORT 12 THE CAVES 14 Summary of bones found in both caves 19 (a) Castle Hill Quarry Cave (alias Jackdaw or North Quarry Cave) 19 (b) Cannington Park Quarry Cave (alias Boulder Cave) 19 Discussion 20 COMBWICH, CRANDON BRIDGE, WEMBDON, AND OTHER LOCAL SITES 20 THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 23 Previous excavation of the Old Quarry site 23 CHAPTER 2: THE EXCAVATION METHOD OF EXCAVATION 29 Recording system and abbreviations 29 Unstratified (U/S) provenance list 31 INTRODUCTION 31 FEATURES 38 Features only on general feature plan 38 Structure I (areas D/M) 38 Structure II (areas Q/V/P) 42 Structure III (areas B, E, F, G, N, O) 44 Other structures 45 FT 43 Summit Structure 45

3 CANNINGTON CEMETERY Excavation and description 45 First stage of excavation 46 Second stage of excavation 48 Dating 49 Interpretation 50 FT 26, the Slab-marked Grave Mound and surrounding area 51 Excavation and description 51 Interpretation 57 CHAPTER 3: THE CEMETERY INTRODUCTION 59 THE BURIALS 59 Numbers of burials, age, and sex 59 Bone condition 72 Degree of articulation 75 Body disposition 76 Skull position 79 Arm position 79 THE GRAVE GOODS 84 The distribution of grave goods: age, sex, and location 92 Grave goods and orientation 93 The range of grave goods 93 Discussion of grave goods by type 95 Two exceptional child burials 96 Conclusion - 98 THE GRAVES * 98 Grave type 98 Grave size 101 Depth of graves 101 Grave lining and filling 104 Stone lining 104 Imported stone in grave fills 106 THE BURIAL PATTERN 106 Introduction. 106 Superimposition 108 The marking of graves 110 Grave rows 111 Orientation 113 Introduction 113 Orientation statistics 113 Discussion 116 DATING AND PHASING 121 Introduction 121 Superimposition and its relevance to dating 123 Graves secondary to Slab-marked Grave Mound FT Dating groups 124 Groups Al and A2 (prehistoric or later) 124 Groups Bl and B2 (Roman up to AD 300, or later) 125 Group C (fourth century or later) 125 Group D (fifth century or later) 126 Group E (sixth and seventh centuries or possibly later) 126

4 CONTENTS vii Group X (grave 409, and those graves stratigraphically later) 126 Discussion 127 Additional potential dating evidence 127 Phasing of cemetery growth 127 CHAPTER 4: THE HUMAN BIOLOGY (D R Brothwell and R Powers, with S M Hirst, S M Wright, and S Gauthier) INTRODUCTION 131 Data collection 131 Computing tools and methods (S Gauthier) 131 Descriptive statistics 131 Plotting the site 131 Spatial patterning in the cemetery 132 THE NATURE OF THE MATERIAL (S M Wright and S M Hirst) 132 The maximum and minimum number of individuals in the excavated sample 132 Preservation 134 DEMOGRAPHY (D R Brothwell, R Powers, and S M Wright) 135 Sex and age determination 135 Sex composition 137 Age composition 139 Juveniles 140 Adolescents and adults 145 The Nemeskeri age study 148 The DRB/RP and Nemeskeri age data compared 148 Average age of death and life tables from the DRB/RP and Nemeskeri age data sets, and population size 152 Conclusion 157 THE BIOMETRIC DATA (D R Brothwell, R Powers, and S Gauthier) 161 Metric characteristics of the adults 161 Introduction and method 161 Sexual dimorphism 161 Indices 164 Stature 164 Distribution analysis of measurement outliers 167 Some observations on the juveniles and adolescents 171 A comparison of Cannington with other excavated samples 173 Canonical analysis of cranial variates 173 Principal coordinate analysis of cranial variates 177 NON-METRIC VARIATION (D R Brothwell, R Powers, and S M Hirst) 188 Conventional discrete traits 188 Unusual variation involving the cranial suture 188 Other variation in the skull 188 Acromion ossicle 191 THE PATHOLOGY (D R Brothwell, R Powers, and S M Hirst) 195 Introduction 195 Congenital anomalies or defects (including genetic) 196 Anomalies of skull 196 (a) Scaphocephaly 196 (b) Bathrocephaly 196 Defective growth in the post-cranial skeleton 197 (a) The vertebral column 197

5 viii CANNINGTON CEMETERY (i) Vertebral clefts 197 (ii) Congenital union of vertebrae 201 (iii) Transitional vertebrae 201 (iv) Anomalous vertebra/rib units 203 (b) Anomalies of the sternum 203 (c) Femoral defects of possible congenital origin 204 (d) Digital anomalies 204 (i) Os vesalius 204 (ii) Congenital union of bones 204 (iii) Articular anomalies of the foot region 204 (e) Y-shaped defect of acetabulum 206 Developmental, nutritional, and metabolic disease 206 Possible anaemic responses 206 Osteoporosis 206 Thickened skull 206 Calculi 206 Internal hyperostosis frontalis 207 Trauma 207 Neoplasms, exostoses, and cysts 208 Joint disease 216 Introduction 216 Joint disease at one site only 219 (a) Jaw 219 (b) Vertebrae 219 (c) Sacro-iliac 220 (d) Upper limbs 221 (e) Lower limbs 221 Joint disease at more than one site 222 Conclusion 225 Infections 225 Leprosy 225 The Cannington lepers 228 (i) Pathological features by individual (K Manchester) 228 (ii) Other possible cases of leprosy 232 Local inflammation possibly due to tuberculosis 232 Non-specific osteitis (periostitis and osteomyelitis) 235 Bone affections of uncertain origin 235 Hydrocephaly 235 Bilateral parietal thinning 237 Disuse atrophy 237 Vascular grooves 238 Osteochondritis dissecans 238 ORAL HEALTH (D R Brothwell, R Powers, and S M Hirst) 239 Introduction _ 239 Dental attrition 240 Dental anomalies 244 Variation in tooth number 244 (a) Absence of teeth, M3 and others 244 (b) Supernumerary teeth 247 Variation in tooth position 247 (a) Crowding 247 (b) Impaction 247 (c) Rotation 247 (d) Malposition 247

6 CONTENTS ix (e) Retention of milk teeth 247 (f) Malocclusion 247 Abnormalities in tooth form and size 251 (a) Shovel-shaped and grooved incisors 251 (b) Supernumerary cusps 251 (c) Enamel pearls 251 (d) Extra roots 253 (e) Other malformations 253 Dental disease 253 Dental caries, pre-mortem tooth loss, and abscesses 253 Periodontal disease 253 Enamel hypoplasia 253 Dental calculus 255 Dental cysts 255 Odontomes 255 GENERAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT (D R Brothwell) 255 CHAPTER 5: THE FINDS STONE (ST) Stone specimens Distant imports Near imports Indigenous Miscellaneous Coal (CO)?Jet (CO) Amber (OB) Scientific examination (M P Heyworth and L Biek) Miscellaneous worked stone Shale bracelets and spindle whorls Querns and rubbers Decorated stone The mould fragments Hones or burnishers Slingstones FLINTS (FL) Report on selected flints (A Saville) Catalogue Discussion WORKED CLAY (FC) Roman tile Spindle whorls Possible loom weight fragment Miscellaneous The 'daub' (L Biek) THE POTTERY (A M Apsimon, M G Fulford, P A Rahtz, and S M Wright, with contributions from the late T Briscoe, P J Leach, D P S Peacock, M J G Russell, I F Smith, and D F Williams) Introduction Summary

7 x CANNINGTON CEMETERY The Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age pottery: fabrics A, B, C, and GL; G and S (some) 282 Fabric summary ~ 282 Chronological discussion 283 Neolithic 283 Bell Beaker 283 Early Bronze Age 285 Late Bronze Age 286 Fabric B (fabric Bl) 286 Fabric C 288 Fabric G (fabric G4) 288 Fabric S (fabric SI) 288 Iron Age 290 Glastonbury style, fabric series GL 290 The Late Bronze Age/Iron Age or post-roman pottery and the post-roman/saxon pottery 291 Fabric series G and S 291 Fabric series G (fabrics G2 and G3) 291 Fabric G2 291 Fabric G3 291 Fabric series S, organic tempered (fabric S2) 292 The Roman and post-roman pottery: fabrics H N, P, Q, SA, and U 292 Fabric H, black-burnished ware 292 Fabric I, reduced wares 293 Fabric J, oxidised wares 293 Fabric L, Roman and post-roman amphorae 293 LI: Roman (not illustrated) 293 L2: post-roman, Bii amphorae Fabric M, African red slip ware 295 Fabric N, buff to brown wares 295 Fabric P, Oxfordshire and New Forest colour coat wares 297 PI: Oxfordshire 297 P2: New Forest (not illustrated) 297 Fabric Q, miscellaneous colour coat wares 297 Fabric SA, samian 297 Fabric U, grass-marked 298 The medieval (post-conquest) and post-medieval pottery: fabric Z 298 Zl: medieval (post-conquest) 298 Z2: post-medieval 304 GLASS (GL) 304 Roman and post-roman vessel and window glass (J Price) 304 Window glass 304 Matt glossy window glass 304 Blown window glass 304 Vessel glass 304 Containers, first to second centuries AD 304 Vessel with wheel-cut decoration 304 Beakers, cups and bowls (undecorated) fourth century and later 304 Beaker with abraded line fourth century AD 307 Vessels with ribbed decoration late Roman 307 Trailed fragment late Roman 307 Late Roman flasks/jugs 307 Post-Roman glass with opaque white trails 307 Post-Roman glass without trails 308

8 CONTENTS xi Summary 308 Discussion 308 Comment (PAR). 309 Post-medieval vessel glass 311 The glass beads (the late M Guido) 311 Comment (LB) 312 Scientific examination of the glass (M P Heyworth and L Biek) 313 IRON 324 The knives 324 Knives with curved cutting edge and straight back (type B) 326 Knives with curved back and straight cutting edge (type C) 328 Type D knife 328 Knives of uncertain blade type 330 Conclusion 330 Metallographic analyses of 14 knives (J G McDonnell) 330 Introduction 330 Methods of analysis 330 Results 331 Discussion 331 Conclusion 334 Comment (LB) 335 Slag inclusions 337 Results 338 Conclusions 339 Shears, an awl, and other possible tools 339 A possible weapon ' 342 Ferrules 342 Collars ' Rings or chain links 343 Iron vessel 343 Strips, hooks, and fittings 344 Buckles 344 Cleats 344 Nails 346 Animal shoes 346 THE BRONZE AGE BRONZE IMPLEMENTS (A M ApSimon) 347 ROMAN AND POST-ROMAN COPPER ALLOY OBJECTS 349 Brooches., 349 A Roman brooch of fantail type (D F Mackreth) 349 An unfinished and two type G penannular brooches 349 A penannular brooch with trefoil-lobed terminals Q Graham-Campbell) 352 Scientific examination of the metal (J G McDonnell) 354 Bracelets 355 Two cable bracelets 355 A bracelet in 'Corinthian bronze' 355 Scientific examination (J Bayley and J G McDonnell) 355 Discussion 358 Strap ends 359 Decorative appliques 359 A revolving pendant disc 360 Toilet articles 360 Needles and pins 362 A Roman balance hook 362 Two Roman spoons (D Sherlock) 363

9 xii CANNINGTON CEMETERY Miscellaneous copper alloy objects 363 Bindings and strips 363 COPPER ALLOY (CA) AND LEAD (OM) OBJECTS OF POST-MEDIEVAL DATE 365 THE COINS (RC) 365 Coin list (the late G C Boon) 367 RESIDUES FROM METALWORKING AND? OTHER HIGH-TEMPERATURE EVENTS (SL) (L Biek) 367 CHARCOAL (CH) 369 OTHER BOTANICAL MATERIAL 369 OBJECTS OF BONE AND ANTLER 369 Antler working 372 Antler handles 372 The comb 372 Bead, button, and spindle whorl 373 Pointed objects 373 ANIMAL BONES 374 Pleistocene material 374 Animal bones from the cemetery 375 The sheep bones from pit FT 17 (S Payne and K Izard) 375 Introduction 375 Methods 375 Description. 378 (a) Number of individuals 378 (b) Sheep or goats 378 (c) Ageing 380 (d) Sex _. 380 (e) Measurements and type 381 (f) Pathology 384 (g) Discussion and conclusions 385 MOLLUSCA 386 RADIOCARBON DETERMINATIONS 387 Preface (PAR and SMH) 387 Report on radiocarbon dates (A J Walker) 390 Introduction 390 Laboratory process 390 Discussion of results 391 a) Harwell results 391 b) Other results 391 General discussion (PAR and SMH) 392 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION INTRODUCTION 393 GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, AND ENVIRONMENT 393 PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT 394 Pre-Neolithic 394 Neolithic 394 Beaker/Bronze Age 395 Iron Age 395 Prehistoric features on the cemetery site 396

10 CONTENTS xiii ROMAN AND POST-ROMAN SETTLEMENT 396 The area in Roman times 396 The hillfort in Roman and later centuries 396 The cemetery finds and structures, secular and religious 397 THE CEMETERY 400 Modes of cemetery analysis, archaeological and anthropological 400 Human biology, health, and mortality: the people of Cannington 401 The excavated sample, age and sex, and mortality 401 Physical characteristics and health 403 The development of the cemetery 405 Mortuary behaviour 409 Grave type, depth, location, orientation 409 Containers, shrouds, accessories 410 Body treatment 410 Grave goods 411 Markers, memorials, maintenance, visitation 412 Post-depositional history 415 Social structure and resource expenditure 415 Ethnic affiliations 415 Community belief 416 Christianity and paganism 418 Cemetery and settlement 420 Demography and relevant locations 420 OTHER COMPARABLE CEMETERIES 422 MEDIEVAL AND LATER USE OF THE SITE 423 HISTORICAL SYNTHESIS 423 CONCLUSION 425 INDEX OF SITES 427 BIBLIOGRAPHY 428 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: THE ARCHIVED DATA 442 The site archive 442 Re chapter Re chapter The BMNH archive 442 APPENDIX 2: REPORTS ON BONES FOUND AT CANNINGTON PARK QUARRY CAVE (BOULDER CAVE) IN 1962 AND The mandibular fragment from Cannington Park Quarry cave, 1962 (D R Hughes) 443 Sex and age at death 443 Odontometrical data 443 Mandibular characters and measurements (mm) 444 Cusp patterns on molars 444 Non-metrical features 444 Pathology 445 Conclusion 445

11 xiv CANNINGTON CEMETERY Bones found May-June Human (R Powers) 445 Measurements ~^~ 445 Animal (A P Currant) 446 Bones found August Human (R Powers) 446 Measurements 447 Post-cranial bones 447 Animal (A P Currant) 447 APPENDIX 3: DATING OF GRAVES 448 APPENDIX 4: SUMMARY INVENTORY OF BURIALS 456 APPENDIX 5: FOETAL/NEONATE REMAINS 503 INDEX 511