Attitudes to Disposal of the Dead - Gazetteer Query Form

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Site name Corston Lime Kilns Quarry, Corston
Site number 308
Burial codes 4001 4006 4021 4023 4026 4028 4030 4035 4042 4044 4045 4052 4053 4065 4074 4084 4091 4101 4107 4112 4122 4125 4129 4141 4156 4181
2500bc-14/1300bc A cist not covered by a mound cut into the lias strata, its floor a barren bed of red loam. Slabs of regular shaped lias lined the walls at the base except at the west. There was carbonised wood in a black layer on the base layer of loam. The burial was of a crouched adult male c37-40, on its right side, head to W, facing SE. It was accompanied by a Type A Beaker near the hands (its mouth to the east), a 'hone', a flint fabricator, a human metacarpal some way from the body, and half a dozen scraps of charred or calcined animal bone including (?)ox and red deer tine.

Although laid as a crouched burial, the body had been brought from elsewhere after the ligaments had decayed, and then arranged as found. Some bones were missing or displaced (the left hip bone and right humerus were absent). Some of the missing bones occurred in the fill covering the burial and were scattered elsewhere on the floor. There was no evidence of violent dismemberment, or of exposure to wild animals, implying a protected preliminary burial elsewhere. The fill contained stones, human skeletal material (fingers), and flint. The whole was covered by lias flags. There was a possible line of stake holes running south west from or to the cist, but their date and association was unclear.

There was one other pit with dark grey soil, pottery, patinated flint chips, and animal bone scraps (sheep, ox and pig).
Remains/Period Y4
County Somerset
Region SW
National grid square ST
X coordinate 690
Y coordinate 650
Bibliographic source Taylor 1933c


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Last updated: Tues Aug 10 2004