Inhumation Graves Research Articles

Plas Gogerddan, Dyfed: A Multi-Period Burial and Ritual Site

At Plas Gogerddan, evidence was discovered for human presence from the middle of the fourth millennium B.C. up to the present day. Numerous pits and post-holes were excavated around a standing stone; one of these pits was dated to the tenth-fifteenth centuries B. c. To the west of the standing stone, three ring-ditches were constructed and used in the first millennium B.C.; in association with these ring-ditches were three iron age crouched burials. In the vicinity of the standing stone lay twenty-two east-west aligned, extended inhumation graves, three of which were surrounded by rectangular timber structures. A coffin stain from one of these graves was dated to the third-seventh centuries A.D.

Survey and Trial Excavation of a Neolithic Site at Dakou, Jungar Banner, Inner Mongolia

Dakou Cun is about 35 km southeast of Shajidu Zong and 7 km northeast of Mazha, north of the Yellow River on the southern edge of the Ordos Plateau. Hequ Xian, Shanxi, is just across the Yellow River to the east, and Fugu Xian, Shaanxi, is about 5 km to the south. The site is about 1.5 km southwest of Dakou Cun on a terrace some 30 m above the bed of the river. It has an area of 200 m west to east and 150 m south to north. In its southeastern part, the soil is sandy and the artifacts are extensively eroded out of the site. Sherds are mainly scattered on the surface. The central and western parts, with a better [-preserved] cultural deposit, have been planted in rice. Burial urns have often been unearthed in the process of cultivation. The excavation was conducted in the western part of the site, where the cultural deposit is thicker. The 140 m2 area excavated (fig. 1) yielded the remains of two houses (Fl and F2), a semicircular pit (Hi), seven burial urns (Wl-W7), three adult burials (Ml-M3), more than 20 pots, and more than 100 stone and bone artifacts. In the western wall sections Ti and T2 (for example), the deposit has the following layers: (1) a cultivated, plowed layer, yellow, 10-20 cm thick; (2) a layer of black soil with charcoal, soft and loose, 10-35 cm thick, with many sherds and, in the lower part, the three burials; (3) a layer of grey, windblown soil, harder, 30-60 cm thick, with more sherds, the habitation floor (covered with a white limy substance) of Fl, and burial urns W1, W2, and W6; (4) a layer of brown soil, hard, 30-50 cm thick, with the foundation of Fl and burial urns W3, W4, W5, and W7; (5) a layer of grey soil, 30-95 cm thick; and (6) a layer of black-brown soil, 20-90 cm thick. Since the pottery of Layers 5 and 6 differs in shapes and materials from that of Layers 3 and 4, we consider these the remains of two different phases of the Dakou culture. The second phase, that of Layers 3 and 4, is the main source of finds from this excavation, producing the remains of a house, the urn burials, and the grave burials.

The Excavation of Two Round Barrows at Trelystan, Powys

The excavation of two adjacent round barrows at Trelystan, Long Mountain, Powys, in 1979, has revealed a complex sequence of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age funerary structures and traces of Late Neolithic settlement. The earliest structure was a large pit grave, dated to about 2400 bc, which was superseded at about 2200 bc by a settlement represented by stake-walled buildings associated with Grooved Ware. Following this some activity took place, possibly domestic, which is represented by sherds probably derived from several southern Beakers, which by analogy with sites elsewhere are to be dated to a period after about 1850 bc. The subsequent Bronze Age cemetery, dated to between about 1800 and 1500 bc (but possibly continuing later), presents a sequence of burial types and structures which can broadly be seen to illustrate a change from the concept of barrow cemetery to that of cemetery barrow. The earliest burials, which consist of cremations in pits and occasionally accompanied by a Food Vessel, were covered by separate small mounds of stone or turf, or a combination of the two. These were eventually overlain by and amalgamated beneath two larger turf barrows associated with Food Vessel Urns, which employed stake circles in their construction and which acted as repositories for additional cremation burials. The cemetery was sited along a pre-existing boundary fence, set up after the Late Neolithic phase, which was renewed at various times throughout the life of the cemetery in response to changes in its layout. A small undated cemetery of inhumation graves, possibly of the Early Christian period, was founded on the eastern side of the barrows at a later date.

Tidlig neolitiske anlæg ved Tolstrup

Tidlig neolitiske anlæg ved Tolstrup

The avaldsnes find and the possible background for the migration period finds in Southwest and West Norway

The author gives a short description of the famous inhumation grave from Avaldsnes, Karm⊘y, Rogaland, and shows how earlier writers have placed this find in the earliest group of a series of rich inhumation and cremation graves from Southwest and West Norway in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries A.D. She mentions the theories which have been put forward by archaeologists to explain the increase in the number and geographical spread of the sites, and in the number and quality of objects within most finds. Finally she discusses what problems she encounters during her work on this material, and how they may be solved.

The Avaldsnes Find and the Possible Background for the Migration Period Finds in Southwest and West Norway

The author gives a short description of the famous inhumation grave from Avaldsnes, Karm⊘y, Rogaland, and shows how earlier writers have placed this find in the earliest group of a series of rich inhumation and cremation graves from Southwest and West Norway in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries A.D. She mentions the theories which have been put forward by archaeologists to explain the increase in the number and geographical spread of the sites, and in the number and quality of objects within most finds. Finally she discusses what problems she encounters during her work on this material, and how they may be solved.

Myrthue-graven. Ældre romertids jordfæstegrave i sydvestjylland

Myrthue-graven. Ældre romertids jordfæstegrave i sydvestjylland

Lindholm Høje

Lindholm Høje

Vestlandskedler og malede glas

Vestlandskedler og malede glas

Gravfund fra Borritshoved

Gravfund fra Borritshoved