A Viking-age cemetery at Cumwhitton, Cumbria.

Oxford Archaeology North, Historic England, 2015. https://doi.org/10.5284/1031499. 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/10.5284/1031499
Sample Citation for this DOI

Oxford Archaeology North, Historic England (2015) A Viking-age cemetery at Cumwhitton, Cumbria. [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1031499

Data copyright © Oxford Archaeology North, Historic England unless otherwise stated

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


Oxford Archaeology North logo

Primary contact

Oxford Archaeology (South)
Janus House
Osney Mead
Oxford
OX2 0ES
UK
Tel: 01865 263800
Fax: 01865 793496

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/10.5284/1031499
Sample Citation for this DOI

Oxford Archaeology North, Historic England (2015) A Viking-age cemetery at Cumwhitton, Cumbria. [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1031499

Historic England logo

Introduction

A view of Grave 2-6 in the main part of the cemetery.

A view of Grave 2-6 in the main part of the cemetery.
© Oxford Archaeology Ltd

In March 2004, a Cumbrian metal detectorist was given permission to examine farmland on the western edge of Cumwhitton (NY 503 525), a small village in the Eden Valley, south-east of Carlisle. There he found an object in the ploughsoil which was subsequently identified as a Viking oval brooch of ninth or tenth-century date. These are almost always found in pairs, and in a burial context. Peter Adams therefore returned to the site and did indeed find a second brooch. Given the rarity of these in England, this was clearly of national importance, so funding was secured for an evaluation of the findspot, to ascertain whether the brooches really did come from a burial. A grave was located, containing only fragments of skull at the west end, which had clearly been disturbed by recent ploughing, though it was still richly furnished with grave goods. The presence of the oval brooches strongly implied that this was the burial of a high-status woman.

Several more artefacts of early medieval date were found in the surrounding ploughsoil by metal detecting during the evaluation. These included fragments of another oval brooch, a key, and part of a sword, suggesting that the grave had been part of a cemetery. Due to the threat of further plough damage an excavation to record this important site was then funded by English Heritage in the summer of 2004, as it was under immediate threat from ploughing. In total, six burials were found, all dating to the early tenth century, though almost no skeletal material survived because of the acidic nature of the soil.

Though the material was poorly preserved, the careful and detailed process of excavation, conservation, and analysis was proposed to maximise the wealth of information that could be recovered from these objects concerning their original appearance, manufacture, and use.


ADS logo
Data Org logo
University of York logo