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Field | Description |
---|---|
Burial no | the number used to identify burials throughout the publication report |
Grid No. X | x co-ordinate of the grave location relative to the site grid (marked on Fig. 5 of the publication) |
Grid No. Y | y co-ordinate of the grave location relative to the site grid (marked on Fig. 5 of the publication) |
Grave Cut | context no. of grave cut |
Grave Fill | context no. of grave fill |
Skeleton No | relates to the skeleton sheet in the archive |
Grave Depth | depth in metres of the grave cut into natural |
Burial Orientation (degrees) | orientation of the burial (foot end) where 0° = feet due north; 90° feet due east, and 360° feet due south. Orientation has been measured against O.S. grid north. At Llandough true north is c. 1 degree east of grid north. The orientations have not been corrected from true north as, given the nature of the bedrock, it is unlikely that the grave diggers would have been able to achieve any precision of orientation nearer than 5°-10° |
OD Height skull/pelvis/feet/ | heights in m above Ordnance Datum |
Skeleton length | length in m of the skeleton measured in the grave |
Burial Cut By | lists the burials which directly overlay, or were cut through, the burial in question (i.e those burials which are stratigraphically later) |
Burial Cuts | lists the burials through which the burial in question cuts or directly overlay (i.e. those burials which are stratigraphically earlier) |
Slides | slide numbers showing this burial held in the archive at the NMGW |
Black & White photographs | photo numbers showing this burial held in the archive at the NMGW |
Grave type | details of the treatment of the grave, evidence of coffins etc. 8 categories defined |
Preservation of skeletal assemblage | preservation of the burial as recorded in the site records. 6 categories used
70-100% complete (Category A) 50-70% complete (Category B) 30-50% complete (Category C) 10-30% complete (Category D) under 10% complete (Category E) Bone groups (disarticulated remains) |
Burial posture | body position within the grave. All burials were supine unless otherwise stated. 8 categories were used |
Arm position | position of the arms within the grave. 17 positions were defined |
Leg position | position of the legs within the grave. 5 positions defined |
Skull position | 5 categories defined. L = skull facing left R = skull facing right U = skull facing upwards UL = upwards to the left UR = upwards to the right |
Artefacts and Ecofacts | finds contained within the grave fill. Those that are considered to have been deliberate grave goods are so defined. Presence (and absence) of pottery and other categories within grave fills is denoted by true or false (T/F) values. Pottery dating is according to six broadly defined groups: Late Iron Age; LIA/Early Roman; Roman; Early-medieval; medieval and Post-medieval. The 'Fabrics' field includes further, more specific information on the pottery (or ceramic building material) present, particularly when of relevance to dating. Late prehistoric type fabrics and local Roman types are described in terms of the defining characteristics (inclusion type or firing) of the fabric. Widely-known Roman wares are described in shorthand fashion: BB = Black-Burnished ware Swales grey = South-Wales greyware Oxford = Oxfordshire whiteware mortaria OxCC = Oxfordshire colour-coated ware. Vessel forms or diagnostic form elements may be described in full or abbreviated: mortar = mortaria. Reference may be made to established typologies, for example Oxfordshire products (Young 1977) |
Age (summary) | the middle (median) age (in years and months) of the age range ascribed by osteological examination. Ages of over 45 are entered as 46, and over 60 as 61 |
Age minimum | the minimum age (in years and months) ascribed by osteological examination |
Age maximum | the maximum age (in years and months) ascribed by osteological examination |
Sex | the sex of adults aged over 15 as determined by osteological examination. Categories: male male? (probable male) female female? (probable female) unsexed |
Ages and sexes were estimated by employing standard anthropological techniques {M. Cox and S. Mays, Human Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science (London, 2000); L. Scheuer and S. Black, Developmental Juvenile Osteology (London, 2000)}. Depending on which skeletal indicators had survived, each skeleton was assigned an age range. Adult skeletons are harder to age than child skeletons and therefore ages were assigned in 10-year bands up to 45 years. Age determination beyond 45 years is less accurate because the degenerative changes that occur at a reasonably regular rate up to this age become less distinct. For this population mature adults were categorised as 45+ or 60+ depending on the preservation of appropriate elements. Narrower age bands could be assigned to children, especially those that had dentitions surviving.
All ages were analysed by employing the middle of the age range and rounding this up where necessary. Thus, for an adult aged between 33 and 45 years, an age of 40 years was assigned. For children, the middle of each age range was taken. These summary ages are categorised in the publication.
Skeletons that presented a limited range of ageing traits and could not be assigned to a specific range were, where possible, assigned one of the following categories:
Infant/Young Child (0-<6 years)
Child (6-<18years)
Young adult (18-25)
Adult (>25-35)
Middle adult (>35-45)
Mature adult (>45)
Skeletons for which no age indicators survived but whose bones had completed growth were categorised as adult and could belong to any of the above adult age categories. Where possible sexes were determined as definite male, definite female, possible male, or possible female. Sexing was not attempted on the children.