Child burial practices during the Early Bronze Age: Evidence from recent excavations
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- READING TIME: 5 minutes
- AUTHORS: Caz Adams (Community Engagement Officer)
The Early Bronze Age in Britain (2400 BC – 1500 BC) marked significant developments in material culture and technology, including the expansion of farming practices, the introduction of metal use and the Beaker culture (these people are named after the bell-shaped pots they made, living in Britain between 2400 BC to 1900 BC). Communities became more settled and complex and new burial practices emerged.
During this period, burial practices were diverse. Bodies could be inhumed (burying a body in the ground) or cremated and are often placed in monumental barrows or cemeteries, with many situated at an important point in the landscape. Inhumation burials were more common at first but eventually gave way to cremation burials. In the case of inhumations, the primary burial was often placed in the centre of a barrow, with males more likely to be buried there than females.
Cremation burials were also placed at the centre of later barrows and also in secondary positions or around other archaeological activity like settlements. The burial of all the ashes after cremation in one location appears not to have been necessary. The cremated bones were gathered and handled after cremation before placing them within, next to or without a container for burial.
In contrast to adults, child burials are rare. Evidence from Scotland, Northern England and Wessex suggest that children were treated in a similar way to adults during the funerary process, but were less likely to be accompanied by pyre or grave goods. Where artefacts do occur, pottery vessels are usually found, but worked flint tools, beads and bone pins are sometimes uncovered.
Weaponry (daggers, arrowheads and knives) do not generally appear in child burials, but they can accompany adults, suggesting that some objects were deemed unsuitable accessories for children. Recently excavated Early Bronze Age child burials have offered a glimpse into burial practices for the populations’ young – here’s a selection of some of Cotswold Archaeology’s recently excavated burials, which showcase unusual, and in some cases, rare grave goods.
Excavations at Lawn’s Farm, Lancashire
During an excavation in 2022, the cremated remains of a child was found, accompanied by two pottery vessels and an assemblage of burnt worked flint. Radiocarbon dating analysis of a fragment of cremated bone provided a date range of 1883–1698 cal BC.
The cremation was accompanied by the fragmented remains of an Early Bronze Age substantial pot, positioned centrally within the pit and an almost complete ‘accessory cup’. A thick deposit of cremated bone was found adhered to the sides and base of the cup, indicating that at least some of the cremation deposit had been placed in this vessel.
Frequently, it is found that as little as 50 percent or less of available bone after cremation is included in Bronze Age burials, which may indicate a particular post-mortem burial practice. The presence of the burnt worked flint suggests that they were placed with the child on the funeral pyre.
It is possible that the cremated remains of the child were placed within a smaller vessel that had been deliberately placed upside down within a larger urn. No evidence for a barrow ditch or mound was found, but a barrow may have once existed. The site’s position on the crest of a hill is also comparable to the landscape setting of other regional barrows.
Excavations at the A40 Park and Ride, Eynsham, Oxfordshire
The cremation burial of a child included a burnt phalanx (foot bone) from an eagle‑sized bird, likely placed on the pyre alongside them. Because eagle remains are extremely rare in Bronze Age contexts, this object may have held special significance, perhaps as an amulet, heirloom, or meaningful personal item. The bone had been pierced at one end, suggesting it may once have been used as a pin. If it is indeed from a golden eagle, it represents the only known Bronze Age example of its kind in England.
The cremated remains had been placed without a pottery vessel in a pit. Only parts of the skull and lower limbs were represented from a single individual, with radiocarbon dating providing a date range of 1880 –1690 cal BC.
Excavations at Netherhampton Road, Salisbury
The remains of a major round barrow cemetery and its landscape setting were excavated, consisting of ten inhumation and three cremation burials.
Positioned on a slope to enhance its visibility when viewed from lower ground, the inhumation burial of a male child, aged approximately 6 years old and radiocarbon dated to 2135 BC – 1929 cal BC, was buried at the centre of a barrow. Usually, this central location would be reserved for adult male burials. The grave’s size is also too large for a child, indicating that it was initially prepared for an adult.
The child had been placed with an intact handled food vessel of ‘Yorkshire’ type, so called because of its ridged profile and level of decoration, which is more common in northern England and a possible indication that people moved over long distances. Whoever made the pot and buried it with the child was familiar with non-local pottery, indicating possible ‘northern’ connections.
The decorated pot had a black residue on the inside, suggesting that the vessel was used before being placed in the burial. The vessel appears to have been placed empty and with care by the side of the child. It would also have been too large for a small child, suggesting that this find may have originally been used and made for an adult. A child buried in this location may indicate the wealth or status of the family of the deceased.
The introduction of food vessels as grave goods coincides with the gradual rise in cremation practices during this period. Evidence suggests that pots were also placed on the pyre with the body, some of them were potentially fired in this way. Accessory or funerary cups like those at Lawn’s Farm and Netherhampton are common in Britain, with at least 800 known cup forms found so far. Individuals were usually buried with one pottery vessel, but in some cases like our Lawn’s Farm example, there can be accompanied by two or more. A lack of biological details about the individuals means that the relationship between the choice of objects included with burials and influencing factors such as social status, age or sex cannot be known.
In northern England, at least 16 accessory cups have been recorded in child burials, with three accompanying adolescents and 26 with adults (amongst the latter, most were buried with females). It appears that accessory cups were chosen to accompany all age groups, although they remain a relatively rare phenomenon.
