Abstract: |
Archaeological excavations conducted between 1983 and 1990 at different sites within an area covering about 12ha in Tower Hamlets, east of the City of London, have produced evidence for a large Roman cemetery. This was one of several serving Roman London, and lay immediately to the east of the town. During excavations 136 cremation burials and 550 inhumation burials were recorded, together with a further 165 features identified as disturbed burials without surviving human remains. They were dated from the first to the fifth century AD. Before the first burials took place towards the end of the first century AD, the landscape to the east of the Roman town was divided by ditches forming possible field boundaries, and quarries were opened up for sand and gravel. At some time around the end of the first century a road was built running eastwards from the town into this area, which was by then beginning to be used for burials. Construction of the town defences in c. AD 190--220 may have curtailed the area available for burials. At least twenty-nine distinct plots, demarcated by ditches and possible paths, have been identified as having been used for burials. The cemetery is distinct from any burials alongside the London to Colchester road, and the study area covers a tract of ground roughly to the south of this road and east of the town wall. The outer limits to the east and south are at present defined only by an absence of burials. Much of the evidence for the cemetery dates to the third and fourth centuries; There appears to be evidence for cremation even in relatively late contexts. Burials probably continued into the early-fifth century AD. There is evidence for a variety of burial rites, as well as funerary structures, inscriptions, ditches and pits. Of particular importance is evidence for the deposition of residues from funeral pyres. Most inhumations were extended and supine, but fourteen individuals were prone. The majority of inhumations were buried in wooden coffins, with a small number in other container types. Ninety had no evidence of any container, and eighty-one `chalk burials' were identified. At least seventy cremation burials were contained in urns, two in tile cists, and the remainder were unurned. Secondary containers for the urns included amphorae and wooden boxes. The osteology of the overall cemetery sample suggests that this was a homogeneous group, most people being born, raised and buried locally; infants and females were significantly under-represented. A large assemblage of artefacts, animal bones and some plant remains are catalogued in the report, and were found either with the burials or redeposited in grave fills and the surrounding strata. The latter were presumably derived largely from previous, disturbed burials, but also provide evidence for funerary practices and other activities carried out in the cemetery, including refuse disposal and possibly butchery. At least 137 inhumations and 33 cremations were accompanied by burial goods, and at least 65 cremation burials contained evidence for non-ceramic items burnt with the body, notably vegetable food remains. The burial and pyre goods include items rarely found in the nearby settlement, and some which are rare or unique in the British archaeological record. Includes French and German summaries. Separately authored reports include |