The Viking Barrow Cemetery at Heath Wood, Ingleby, Derbyshire

Abstract

THE CEMETERY at Ingleby, Derbyshire, is the only known Scandinavian cremation cemetery in England. The unique nature of the site makes it an important source of information for Viking pagan graves in the Danelaw, but also makes its interpretation difficult. The fragmentary nature of the finds and the sketchy reports of the excavations of the 1940s and 1950s has led to limited discussion of the site. The proximity of the cemetery to the important and complex discoveries at Repton now gives it added significance. As a possible pointer to the origins and ideologies of Danes in the East Midlands, Ingleby is of critical importance. This papa reviews previous work on the site, presents the principal results of a new earthwork survey, and proceeds to discuss Ingleby in the light of what is known of other Scandinavian burials in England. The survey has shown that the apparent clustered distribution of the barrows within the cemetery is real and not the product of differential survival; it has also indicated that ...