Attitudes to Disposal of the Dead - Gazetteer Query Form

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Site name Pokesdown
Site number 833
Burial codes 3002 3005 3021 3023 3025 3028 3030 3032 3041 3046 3051 3053 3065 3075 3081 3082 3083 3092 3098 3104 3111 3128 3143 3153 3161 3173 3181
14/1300bc-8/700bc An urnfield of triangular shape with the long axis EW. One distinct group of burials was discovered but the rest were haphazardly placed. There were 45 burials. 26 were by cremation only, and 18 by cremation in urns of which 2 had food vessel associations. There were no other objects in association. Of the 17 urns whose position could be determined, 9 were upright, 7 inverted and 1 on its side. Only just over half the urns had cremated bone in them, and that was very comminuted, and a token amount from the pyre.

The usual practice here was - a few fragments of bone placed in the urn or in the pit, then handfuls of ashes, and finally large sticks of charcoal on top. Sometimes the order was reversed. Inverted urns had a cloth or skin cover before inversion. Of the 26 cremations in pits only 4 contained cremated bone, the rest ashes. One contained a pot base placed on the ashes.

There were barrel, bucket, globular, and flower pot urns, the first predominating. Urns P13 and P14 were late collared urns.
Remains/Period Y3
County Dorset
Region S
National grid square SZ
X coordinate 130
Y coordinate 920
Bibliographic source Clay 1927a, Calkin 1962


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Last updated: Tues Aug 10 2004