Multiple burial

Site: Flixton, Suffolk.
Period: Various.
Excavator: Suffolk C.C. Archaeological Service.
Published: forthcoming.

Brief description: A surprise find in August 2001. Four skeletons can be seen lying in a pile at the base of a shallow grave which cut into a much larger pit. The pit can be dated to the Roman period on pottery evidence, and the grave too contains Roman pottery redeposited from the surrounding feature. Radiocarbon dates place these skeletons in the Roman period. Analysis suggests that the group consists of a sub-adult of about 12-14 years (top layer), a young adult female (second layer, head to the opposite end), an adult male (third layer), and another adult, possibly female (bottom layer).

This is an unusual form of burial. There is no disturbance which would suggest re-use of a known grave for later interments, so it must be concluded that these people all died within a short time of one another. The bones themselves have revealed evidence that their death was violent and sudden.

Further reading

Nothing published yet

Acknowledgements

The excavation was funded by RMC Aggregates (Eastern Counties) Ltd.