Excavation of a Bronze Age Unenclosed Cemetery, Cairns, and Field Boundaries at Eaglestone Flat, Curbar, Derbyshire, 1984, 1989–1990

Abstract

Excavations at Eaglestone Flat, on the gritstone eastern uplands of the Peak District, have revealed a Bronze Age cremation cemetery associated with a number of contemporaneous stone structures built for ritual and agricultural purposes. Some of the burials were within urns, mostly cordoned. Others were simply placed in pits whilst still hot. A minority were deposited in direct association with small cairns, either placed under or within them. The majority were on open ground near the stone features and adjacent to the upslope edge of a prehistoric field. Most of the stone structures are clearance features associated with the preparation and cultivation of the land close by over an extended period. They are found in a complex palimpsest, which includes structures of unusual design, such as retained rectangular platforms, and discontinuous walls that were only ever 1–2 courses high and probably surmounted by low banks. A series of radiocarbon results adds to knowledge of the date at which Peak District cairnftelds and field systems were built. Environmental data allows vegetational sequences to be reconstructed.