Ingleby Barwick Cemetery : In-depth Information

The surrounding area was cleared and a large oval pit was discovered. The pit contained a rectangular block of darker material which appears to have been a former timber structure, possibly a cist . Inside the structure were the remains of two groups of bones, each of which consisted of a skull and several long bones. These individuals were probably excarnated before being placed in the timber cist. Excarnation is the practice of allowing a body to decay before it is buried by leaving it in an exposed location. The bones are then collected and deliberately placed in a grave or tomb.

Nearby was a second oval grave. This contained the complete skeleton of an adult lying on his side in a crouched position. At the feet of this body was a fine polished stone mace head. The mace head was lying only inches from the access road which had originally disturbed the graves and could easily have been lost or destroyed.

These finds prompted us to widen our search and a large area was stripped and hand cleaned. This led to the discovery of two more graves. One of these graves had been badly disturbed by ploughing but the other was in excellent condition. The remains were those of a woman who was laid in her grave lying on her side with her hands brought up beneath her chin. The remains of a second individual had been placed close to the woman. These remains had been stacked into a small pile, again suggesting an excarnated burial.

Excavation of the female revealed that she had been buried wearing a range of copper jewellery. Working conditions were extremely difficult with short December days and hard winter frosts so it was decided to lift the torso of the skeleton as a single block. It could then be excavated under laboratory conditions. To do this the block was frozen solid with dry ice, carefully lifted, x-rayed and painstakingly excavated by a trained conservator at the University of Durham. The excavation of this block led to the recovery of 41 tubular beads, 25 jet buttons and 79 very small jet beads. The woman had a plain copper bangle on one arm and a more substantial ribbed copper bracelet on the other.

The skeletons were subsequently radio-carbon dated with the results suggesting a date of around 1800 BC, the very dawn of the Bronze Age.

Ingleby Barwick Cemetery

Gallery

In-depth Information