This collection represents the digital archive for two adjacent Anglo-Saxon cemeteries; Sawcliffe I, of sixth century date, and Sawcliffe II, dating to the seventh century located south of the Humber in the parish of Roxby-cum-Risby, North Lincolnshire.
The site was initially discovered initially by metal detectorists in 1992, who recovered a series of 7th century artefacts. Based on the potential of these exciting finds and the fact that the site was in the process of being destroyed by ploughing of the sandy soil, it was decided to carry out an excavation to preserve the site through record. The North Lincolnshire Museum, led by Kevin Leahy and David Williams and with the aid of volunteers, fully excavated the cemeteries between 1993 and 1996.
The Sawcliffe I cemetery dated to the sixth century and contained 53 graves including two cremation burials. There were some interesting burials including two graves that were surrounded by close-set ditches, as well as a shield boss in Grave 115 that may show evidence for battle damage. The Sawcliffe II cemetery dated to the seventh century and contained 74 graves laid in rough rows, in contrast to Sawcliffe I. Four of these graves contained gold and garnet jewellery and two contained swords.
Unfortunately, the acidic soil conditions meant that many skeletal remains had not survived, however, a large number of grave goods were recovered, and later conserved by the York Archaeological Trust. Of particular interest were the traces of a number of textiles, which were well preserved.
This archive, published on the ADS in November 2023, contains an extensive array of material related to this project that is available to download and reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. The download section of the archive includes:
- A database for 128 graves and 1462 finds consisting of four tables: Finds, Finds Images, Graves, Grave Images.
- A site plan.
- Plans and photographs of each of the graves.
- Photographs of the wide collection of finds (see below).
- A GIS file of the outline of the excavation area.
This archive is available from the link below:
Kevin Leahy (2023) Digital Data from the Excavation of Sawcliffe ‘Sheffield’s Hill’ Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, North Lincolnshire, 1993-1996 [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1112993
