Information on Loughborough
News Index
2010
Mar 2010Feb 2010
Jan 2010
2009
Dec 2009Nov 2009
Oct 2009
Sep 2009
Aug 2009
Jul 2009
Jun 2009
May 2009
Apr 2009
Mar 2009
Feb 2009
Jan 2009
2008
Dec 2008Nov 2008
Oct 2008
Sep 2008
Aug 2008
Jul 2008
Jun 2008
May 2008
Apr 2008
Mar 2008
Feb 2008
Jan 2008
2007
Dec 2007Nov 2007
Oct 2007
Sep 2007
Aug 2007
Jul 2007
Jun 2007
May 2007
LEICESTERSHIRE BURIAL MOUNDS REVEAL ANCESTRAL INSIGHTS
Posted on 10/06/08
Researchers from University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) have recently completed work on the results of three closely related Bronze Age round barrows excavated at Cossington, Leicestershire.
Their excavations revealed a variety of burial practices from Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Anglo Saxon times, showing how the three barrows were used in repeated ceremonies to honour the dead. They offer the first definite example of an Anglo Saxon cemetery sited on an earlier monument to be found in Leicestershire.
One of the barrows included the crouched burial of a child of around eight years, who lay with grave offerings including two pots, a stone bowl and three flint knives. One of the knives had been made from a much earlier object, perhaps making a physical link to past ancestors.
The findings have been published in Monument, Memory, and Myth, by University of Leicester archaeologist John Thomas, offering an important addition to understanding how burial monuments were used, not only by the people who built them in the Bronze Age, but also by later generations living close to the monuments.
The research project, funded by English Heritage through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, has brought together the results of three separate excavations undertaken in advance of gravel extraction at Cossington Quarry.
The three barrows form part of a small cemetery located at the confluence of the Rivers Soar and Wreake. This may have been an important location where Bronze Age people met up at certain times of the year to trade, foster relationships, forge alliances and swap stories. The formation of the cemetery is likely to have been due to the importance of this part of the landscape to the people who lived in it.
John Thomas explained the significance of the finds: The three barrows are likely to have been built as community projects, with different families pooling resources to create monuments for wider kinship use. Evidence for the careful maintenance and re-building of the barrows shows that they were not built for single use, but had a long history and were used and re-used many times.
A cremation burial close to the childs grave also had broken pieces of Beaker style pottery that must have been quite ancient even before they were placed in the grave so it is possible that these were also treated as a link to the past almost as heirlooms or antiques with ancestral connections.
Another burial, probably of a woman, was accompanied by a remarkable composite bead necklace. This was made of jet, shale, amber and faience beads and is a remarkable find for the region. Although the sandy soils had destroyed the bone evidence, the necklace still lay in the order that the beads had been strung, allowing it to be reconstructed.
It is thought that such necklaces, fairly common in burials from the Wessex area, were made at the graveside from beads taken from other necklaces before being buried with the deceased. In this way they can also be seen as having been charged with the power of the ancestors, as well as giving a link to the wider family network to which the deceased belonged.
The style of the necklace (associated with Wessex) and the origins of the material for the original beads also show links with wider areas, perhaps through trade or other social networks.
After their original period of use the three barrows continued to attract attention. A small cremation cemetery developed on the edge of one of the barrows, which probably represented the burial ground of a single family group. The location of the burials suggests that this family wished to be associated with the barrow and those buried in it.
Later still, one of the barrows, which survived as a low earthwork mound, apparently became a meeting place for people making flint tools. They left over a thousand waste pieces behind, suggesting that this was a regular meeting spot.
The earthwork monument also became the focus for activity during much later periods. In the Iron Age a settlement grew nearby and the significance of the barrow is shown by a number of pots (perhaps once containing offerings) that were buried in the barrow mound. This practice continued into the Roman period when more whole pots were buried.
Finally the barrow mound became the setting for a small Anglo-Saxon cemetery. This association between Saxon burials and earlier monuments is a recognised phenomenon nationally but the first definite example from Leicestershire. No bone survived but iron spears, knives, buckles and brooches indicated that at least five people had been buried there. A small settlement also existed nearby.
John Thomas added: The re-use of the barrow by Iron Age, Roman and Anglo Saxon people is very interesting. These people could not have had any knowledge of the original use and meaning attached to the monument but it survived as a prominent landmark in a fairly flat landscape and became the focus for settlement in these periods. It was perhaps imagined to contain the ancestral spirits of the land and by associating themselves with the long dead, the living could make claims to be their successors and heirs giving them a right to live there.
"The results of this project have shown how the three barrows were used repeatedly, resulting in a long history and providing a remarkable insight into how these burial monuments were used by local communities living in the surrounding landscape.
Rather than seeing these barrows as single use monuments it is clear that through their repeated use they became rich in memory and myth, even during the Early Bronze Age, and that their significance endured, influencing later settlers wishing to stake a claim on the surrounding landscape.
There will be a book launch for Monument, Memory and Myth on Thursday June 12th at Charnwood Museum, Granby Street, Loughborough starting at 7.30pm. An exhibition of finds from the excavations will be on display at Charnwood Museum from 12 June.
Latest Loughborough News
Libraries become more dyslexia-friendly |
|---|
Created: Friday 19th of March 2010 05:30:01 PM  Community Services19 March 2010Libraries become more dyslexia-friendlyLibraries across Leicestershire have signed up to a new set of guidelines designed to make them more dyslexia-friendly. Over the next few months, staff are being trained to ensure they understand the basic issues facing people with dyslexia.... Read More: Libraries become more dyslexia-friendly |
Serving police officer dies following a collision in Leicestershire |
Created: Friday 19th of March 2010 04:20:02 PM  Serving police officer dies following a collision in LeicestershirePC Phil TomaszewskiA serving police officer has died following a collision in the parish of Eaton, near Ab Kettleby, Leicestershire. The collision occurred at about 1.... Read More: Serving police officer dies following a collision in Leicestershire |
Celebrated poet and writer visits the University of Leicester |
Created: Friday 19th of March 2010 03:03:35 PM  Bernardine Evaristo, acclaimed author of Blonde Roots and The Emperor s Babe, to speak at a free public event on Friday 26 March.... Read More: Celebrated poet and writer visits the University of Leicester |
Donated furniture boosts good causes |
Created: Friday 19th of March 2010 03:03:34 PM Good causes have received a boost thanks to donations of office furniture from Charnwood Borough Council. Items such as desks, filing cabinets and chairs are being distributed to good causes through Giving World Online, a scheme run by Leicester based charity Konnect9. ... Read More: Donated furniture boosts good causes |
Action packed week boosts community |
Created: Friday 19th of March 2010 03:03:33 PM Around 10 tonnes of rubbish were collected, a buggy fit walk was held and health checks took place as part of a community action week in Mountsorrel. Organisations including Charnwood Borough Council, Leicestershire Police and Voluntary Action Charnwood worked with local residents to organise the busy week which aimed to improve the environment and boost residents fitness and wellbeing. ... Read More: Action packed week boosts community |
Related Loughborough News
Digging the Dead at Donington le Heath Manor House |
|---|
Created: Tuesday 10th of June 2008 02:00:00 PM  5000 years of death and burial in Leicestershire and Rutland will be featured in an exhibition opening on 13th June at Donington le Heath Manor House.... Read More: Digging the Dead at Donington le Heath Manor House |
Roman cemetery revealed in Enderby |
Created: Thursday 18th of September 2008 07:00:00 AM  A small Roman rural cemetery containing six skeletons has been discovered at an archaeological dig in Enderby. ... Read More: Roman cemetery revealed in Enderby |
A chance to see new finds from the past at Donington le Heath |
Created: Tuesday 14th of July 2009 08:14:07 PM Community Services13 July 2009A chance to see new finds from the past at Donington le HeathThe Festival of Leicestershire Archaeology which has over 50 events around the County will be celebrated at Donington le Heath Manor House with 4 events. The highlight will be Before the Romans on Sunday 26th July.... Read More: A chance to see new finds from the past at Donington le Heath |
Story behind ancient timbers revealed at Snibston Discovery Museum |
Created: Monday 21st of December 2009 12:14:08 PM Community Services18 December 2009Story behind ancient timbers revealed at Snibston Discovery MuseumThe history behind three medieval bridges discovered in Leicestershire will be revealed in a special book launch at the region’s largest science and technology museum on Tuesday 26th January, 2010. Rescue excavations at Hemington Quarry, Leicestershire, between 1993 and 1998 revealed three successive medieval bridges preserved beneath gravel bar deposits and alluvium.... Read More: Story behind ancient timbers revealed at Snibston Discovery Museum |
Story behind ancient timbers revealed at Snibston Discovery Museum 2010 |
Created: Friday 15th of January 2010 02:14:02 PM Community Services15 January 2010Story behind ancient timbers revealed at Snibston Discovery Museum 2010The history behind three medieval bridges discovered in Leicestershire will be revealed in a special book launch at the region’s largest science and technology museum on Tuesday 26th January, 2010. Rescue excavations at Hemington Quarry, Leicestershire, between 1993 and 1998 revealed three successive medieval bridges preserved beneath gravel bar deposits and alluvium.... Read More: Story behind ancient timbers revealed at Snibston Discovery Museum 2010 |
Most Read Loughborough News (today)
Graffiti Workshops in Loughborough and Charnwood |
|---|
Created: Friday 18th of July 2008 11:00:00 AM  A SERIES of free graffiti workshops could help creative youngsters avoid a brush with the law. Charnwood Community Safety Partnership, of which Charnwood Borough Council is a partner, is staging the six-week programme of graffiti workshops in three neighbourhoods to give 11 to 16-year-olds an alternative means of expression rather than daubing slogans and images on buildings throughout the Borough.... |
Mini moto campaign in Loughborough is a crushing success. |
Created: Wednesday 2nd of July 2008 03:31:00 PM  14 motorbikes and mini-motos have been crushed after they were confiscated by police in Loughborough during a crack down on young people who drive dangerously and inconsiderately on roads, parks and public places.... Read More: Mini moto campaign in Loughborough is a crushing success. |
Radical plans to personalise social care in Leicestershire |
Created: Tuesday 22nd of July 2008 04:45:00 PM  Radical changes to social care in Leicestershire will be outlined at a meeting next week. The County Council wants to personalise its social care and will update the Cabinet on the plans next Tuesday (29th July).... Read More: Radical plans to personalise social care in Leicestershire |
Robot in Loughborough Town Centre |
Created: Tuesday 27th of May 2008 03:50:00 PM  Reports are coming in that Loughborough Town Centre was yesterday infiltrated by a giant robot. The robot which some eye witnesses say they saw in Market Place and Market Street at various times yesterday afternoon stood some 8ft tall, was metallic in colour, had blue glowing eyes and spoke in sound bites.... Read More: Robot in Loughborough Town Centre |
Ladybird Survey |
Created: Tuesday 29th of April 2008 09:03:00 AM  Ladybirds ( or ladybugs if you are American) are loved by the public but now help is needed to monitor local numbers as an invasive species called the harlequin ladybird spreads across England.... Read More: Ladybird Survey |
Most Read Loughborough News (this month)
Loughborough Astra Zeneca Closure |
|---|
Created: Tuesday 2nd of March 2010 04:03:15 PM  Charnwood Borough Council has today learned that the Astra Zeneca has decided to close its facility in Loughborough by the end of 2011. The announcement is a huge blow and a major loss of employment in the Borough and in Loughborough in particular. ... Read More: Loughborough Astra Zeneca Closure |
Action group to meet regarding Astra Zeneca announcement |
Created: Wednesday 3rd of March 2010 11:03:57 AM An action group consisting of local organisations is to meet on Friday to discuss yesterday s (Tue) announcement by Astra Zeneca. Charnwood Borough Council has organised the urgent meeting after the pharmaceutical firm announced it will close its operation in the town by the end of next year. This will mean a loss of nearly 1,200 jobs. ... Read More: Action group to meet regarding Astra Zeneca announcement |
Thirteen people arrested in 'Bling' crackdown |
Created: Wednesday 24th of February 2010 10:20:01 PM  Thirteen people arrested in 'Bling' crackdownThirteen people have been arrested in the first phase of a Force-wide operation to crackdown on criminals living lavish lifestyles from the proceeds of crime. The ‘Too Much Bling? Give us a Ring’ campaign was launched on February 10, 2010, encouraging members of the public to call Crimestoppers anonymously to let police know of any people who may be living beyond their means from drug money or ill gotten gains.... |
Appeal following incident at Loughborough University |
Created: Friday 26th of February 2010 08:10:01 PM  Appeal following incident at Loughborough UniversityPolice are appealing for witnesses following the report of a serious sexual assault in Loughborough. The incident is alleged to have happened sometime between 1.... Read More: Appeal following incident at Loughborough University |
EASTER ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES |
Created: Wednesday 24th of February 2010 04:02:23 PM Charnwood Borough Council s Easter Activity Programme for 0 16 year olds kicks into action on Monday 29th March until 5th April. ... Read More: EASTER ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES |