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This enclosure (F320) comprised a continuous rectangular ditch circuit 1.0m wide, 7.8m from north-south and 6.8m from east-west. No internal features were found. The burial of an adult male was discovered crammed into a narrow north-south aligned grave which had been cut into the western length of the enclosure ditch. The body lay on its back slightly flexed at the hip and knee with its head to the north facing to the east. His arms were drawn up across his chest with both hands clasped under his left cheek. A single horse tooth was recovered from between his thighs. Both legs were lying sticking up at a slight angle and it would appear that the grave cut was only long enough to accommodate the head and body.
Since excavation, the skeleton has been carefully washed and packaged and has now been analysed by osteologist Malin Holst (see oseteological assessment)
Sections recorded through the ditch revealed that the feature had a regular, steep-sided U-shaped profile and varied in depth between 0.4m and 0.5m. The ditch appeared to have been recut at some time, resulting in the truncation of the skeleton at the knee and the displacement of its lower legs. This suggests that the feature was actively managed over a period of time due to its lasting significance in the landscape.
Despite the lack of a central burial it is not unreasonable to interpret the enclosure as a square barrow. Excavation of a number of Iron Age cemeteries in eastern Yorkshire (Wetwang Slack, Garton Slack, Danes Graves) have shown that many of the earlier barrows lack a central burial pit, suggesting either that the body was buried on the original ground surface then covered with upcast from the ditch, or was interred in a shallow grave since ploughed out. The incidence of later burials in the barrow ditch is not uncommon. At Wetwang Slack 170 secondary burials were excavated from barrow ditches. Common characteristics of the secondary burial were small, cramped graves, absence of grave goods and crouched or flexed burials orientated north-south with the face to the east. Evidence from Rudston suggests that each barrow may have been associated with a family group and that the barrow may have been reused as a burial plot over generations. The secondary burial and later remodelling of F320 suggests a similar activity took place at Nosterfield.
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Square Barrow f 320 |
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