Mesolithic antlers, Roman family cemeteries, and Saxon surprises: Archaeology along the Childrey Warren Pipeline
- DATE WRITTEN:
- READING TIME: 4 minutes
- AUTHORS: Pippa Bradley (Post-excavation Manager) and Charlotte Bradfield (Work Experience Student)
In 2018 and 2019 we excavated along a new 6km long pipeline between Childrey Warren and Wantage in Oxfordshire. The new route ran within the distinctive landscape of the Vale of the White Horse towards the foot of the Berkshire Downs. It travelled in a north-east to south-west direction, crossing gently rolling hills and agricultural fields, passing several roads, and leading toward the Ridgeway and the Iron Age hillfort of Segsbury Camp.
The monograph for this excavation, published in 2023, is now available as a free digital download. Dive into the discoveries and grab your copy here.
Mesolithic
We recovered a shed red deer antler from one of the tree-throw holes, a hole created by the roots of a fallen tree, which often refills with organic matter and can be visible in the archaeological record. They are naturally formed but are sometimes used by people for rubbish disposal. The antler had no signs of working or modification but radiocarbon dated to the Early Mesolithic period (10,000—6,500 BC). A few Mesolithic flints were also recovered from these features. The small scale traces of Mesolithic and Neolithic activity recovered are likely to represent a persistent use of the landscape within a more mobile habitation pattern, rather than a more permanent settlement.
Bronze Age
A double pit alignment was identified, consisting of 25 pits dug mainly in two parallel lines. The feature is of probable Late Bronze date (1,100—700 BC). Unfortunately, the full extent of it was not revealed and limited artefactual material was recovered. It is likely that this would have formed a permeable boundary presumably associated with land control and division, but it is not believed to have supported a physical barrier. One theory is that the pit alignment was associated with the hillfort of Segsbury Camp, which is around 2km away, however the function of pit alignments is essentially still a mystery.
Iron Age
Near Childrey Warren there was a high concentration of Iron Age and Roman activity, part of an extensive complex of rural settlements. This included an Iron Age open settlement where there were multiple roundhouses and a dense concentration of storage pits.
Many of the storage pits contained domestic rubbish but a few had more complex deposits which included the burial of select animal bone groups as well as human remains. The most significant of these deposits contained a sequence of three burials: a human neonate placed near the pit base, a body of a dog placed in the middle fill and an unusual burial of a woman found in the upper deposit. Radiocarbon modelling indicates this sequence of burials took place during a period of up to 18 years.
The aDNA (ancient DNA) of the infant was not preserved, so the relationship between the woman and child is unknown. It can be speculated that they were related, due to the relatively frequent familial groupings of individuals. The woman was placed in an unusual position, perhaps with her hands tied, and legs splayed. The more dramatic aspect of the burial was the removal of the individual’s feet, to be placed near the head of the body. Why this person had been singled out for this treatment is uncertain although theories include sacrifice or punishment. Scientific analysis revealed that they may have spent their childhood in the dryer eastern parts of the country – East Anglia, East Midlands or Yorkshire and may therefore have been seen as being different in some way.
Roman
Two small cemeteries of Late Roman and of Middle Saxon date were also found. The Late Roman cemetery is a typical rural cemetery; the graves were cut into the chalk and some were lined with chalk blocks. The spacing of the graves may indicate they were marked in some way. Limited grave goods were recovered comprising a few coins including nummi of the House of Valentinian (AD 364–378), finger rings, a bracelet and a rare fragmentary double-sided composite bone/antler comb with horse decoration. One adult female was buried with hobnailed shoes.
Provisional results from the aDNA analysis revealed four pairs of relatives were buried in the Late Roman cemetery. Two sisters were buried in adjacent east–west graves and along from their paternal (father’s brother) uncle, and their cousin (on his maternal side – his mother’s brother) was buried in a grave slightly offset. The scientific analysis confirming the widely held belief that such rural cemeteries were used by family groups.
Several of the Roman individuals seem to have been buried with coins in their mouths. This was a common Roman practice which was linked to Roman beliefs about the dead. According to classical myth the coin would be used to pay Charon, the ferryman who would transport souls across the River Styx to the underworld.
Saxon
The Saxon burials were a surprise discovery as very limited evidence was recovered on the scheme for archaeological remains of this date. The cemetery comprised at least seven graves divided into two groups (males and sub-adults), and had been truncated by later agricultural activity. Some graves could have been lost entirely. Osteoarchaeology has revealed that one of the older children buried in the Saxon cemetery was suffering an active infection of the shoulder blade when they died, and it is possible that sepsis led to their early death.
No grave goods were recovered and upon excavation these graves were assumed to be of Roman or possibly post-Roman date but given the lack of post-Roman material, a Roman date was thought to be more likely. However, radiocarbon dating has proved these burials to date to the Saxon period, around the late 7th or early 8th century AD. Although the full extent of the cemetery was not revealed in the excavated strip, it does provide important new information and emphasises the importance of radiocarbon dating.
This archaeological work was part of a collaborative project undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology with Skanska, Stantec and Balfour Beatty and on behalf of Thames Water Utilities Ltd.
