Cossington, Platts Lane, Leicestershire

John Thomas, 2008. (updated 2011) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000079. How to cite using this DOI

Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1000079
Sample Citation for this DOI

John Thomas (2011) Cossington, Platts Lane, Leicestershire [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1000079

Data copyright © University of Leicester Archaeological Services unless otherwise stated

This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Creative Commons License


Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund logo
English Heritage logo

Primary contact

John Thomas
Project Officer
University of Leicester Archaeological Services
School of Archaeology and Ancient History
University Road
Leicester
LE1 7RH
Tel: 0116 2522848

Send e-mail enquiry

Resource identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1000079
Sample Citation for this DOI

John Thomas (2011) Cossington, Platts Lane, Leicestershire [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1000079

University of Leicester Archaeological Services logo

Overview

Summary

"Archaeological work during gravel quarrying at Cossington, Leicestershire has included the excavation of three Bronze Age round barrows (two excavated in 1976 and the third in 1999) that are part of a dispersed barrow cemetery, located at the confluence of the rivers Soar and Wreake.

The two barrows excavated in 1976 comprised a single re-cut ditch (Barrow 1) and a double ring-ditch (Barrow 2). Barrow 1 was associated with a central feature and a middle Bronze Age urn cemetery to the south-east of the monument. Within Barrow 2 a sequence of Early Bronze Age burials included a cremation burial associated with Beaker pottery sherds, the crouched inhumation burial of a young child with associated grave goods, and a cremation burial accompanied by a Collared Urn.

The 1999 barrow (Barrow 3) consisted of a single re-cut ring ditch and the surviving vestiges of an earthern mound. No central feature was found with this monument, however the burial of a probable female in crouched position was located on the southern edge of the barrow, indicative of a secondary burial. Due to the acidic soil conditions no human bone survived, however an exquisite composite necklace of jet, amber, shale and faience beads was found within the grave. The beads had been buried around the neck of the body and still retained their original strung positions. Such a find is almost unique in the East Midlands and one of only a handful of other examples from central Britain and has significantly added to the understanding of Bronze Age material culture from the region, as well as providing information on contemporary trade and social networks.

In the Iron Age a settlement grew around the remains of Barrow 3, represented by a roundhouse to the west of the monument and enclosures to the north. The barrow mound apparently also retained some significance at this time as it was the setting for several acts of deliberate burial of ceramic sherds and whole pottery vessels. This significance also carried on into the Roman period when similar traditions appear to have been important and further deliberate pottery burials took place.

Barrow 3 acquired fresh significance in the Early Anglo-Saxon period when a settlement was established close to the monument and the mound formed the focus for a small inhumation cemetery comprising at least four burials containing spears, knives and other metal grave goods. This is a well documented phenomenon from other parts of the country but the first confirmed example from Leicestershire. The area to the east of Barrow 3 revealed a rich palimpset of ditches, gullies and a post alignment reflecting a complex history of land division in the barrows vicinity.

Finally, in the locality of the excavations, a former watercourse containing well-preserved organic material was discovered to the north of the excavations. The surviving pollen, plant remains and insects have provided a smaple of the Soar Valley landscape from the Neolithic onwards, providing and environmental context for the archaeological activity. Important complimentary evidence was also provided by numerous animal bones, including examples of Aurochs and Red Deer, that were located in the silted channel, some with slight evidence of butchery.

The three monuments have provided evidence of the range of monumental architecture that existed in the region in the Early Bronze Age, as well as highlighting the changing dynamics of burial practices within the period. The long history of use, reuse and changing interpretation, especially highlighted by the later use of Barrow 3, as also lead to a consideration of the role of memory and mythology that resulted in the complex biographies of the three monuments."

The Digital Archive

The key elements of the digital archive were a series of digitised site plans and illustrations (arising from both phases of the excavations) designed towards contributing to the hard-copy publication. The resulting digital files - along with the monograph text - have been archived with the Archaeology Data Service. Access to the archive is currently restricted, with full public access in the near future.

Non-digital Archive and Publications

In addition to the reports and data contained within the digital archive the project also produced the following outputs:

Literary Outputs
Thomas, J. 2007: Three Bronze Age Round Barrows at Cossington, a History of Use and Reuse. Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, 81
Project Website
http://www.le.ac.uk/ulas/projects/CossingtonProjects.html
Museum Displays
A selection of finds, a reconstruction of one of the burials, plus information boards feature in an exhibition at The Charnwood Museum, Granby Street, Loughborough.
Other
Cossington: Part of a travelling exhibition in 2008 - 'Death and Burial in Leicestershire'

The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) do not hold any further information regarding these non-digital outputs, any queries should be directed to the depositor.


ADS logo
Data Org logo
University of York logo