A Medieval Punishment Cemetery at Weyhill Road, Andover

In 2016, a watching brief in advance of construction at a site between Andover and Weyhill, Hampshire, revealed human remains. The discovery let to the excavation of a densely crowded group of partly disturbed and heavily intercut graves, but this was not a normal community cemetery. The remains of 124 individuals, mostly male and adult, were revealed, with much additional disarticulated bone. Many had clearly been buried with their hands tied behind their backs, or they had been interred face-down, and some had been decapitated. This and a silver penny of AD 979–985 found associated suggests that the site was a distinctive type of Saxon execution or punishment cemetery, as known elsewhere in Hampshire. Radiocarbon dating demonstrated that the cemetery may have been in use as early as the 8th century, and it continued in use beyond the Norman Conquest to at least the 13th or 14th century.

You can download here the full osteological catalogue of the skeletal remains excavated at this site. This is available in Excel format.