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THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



of the characteristics of late Romano-British burials. 

 Of the four, two were contained within nailed 

 wooden structures, probably purpose- made coffins. 

 All were accompanied by grave goods, objects 

 deliberately placed with the burials which to aid 

 the deceased during the journey to the next world 

 or in the afterlife. 



Inhumation 1 



The central of a small group of burials, the grave 

 cut contained the remains of an extended adult 

 burial. A minimum of 25 timber nails (based on 

 head count) were recorded. In addition, nine nail 

 shank fragments were present, some of these, if not 

 all, undoubtedly belong to the fragments with heads 

 and probably do not represent further nails. The 

 site plan (Figure 6) shows a pattern which may be 

 interpreted as having nails at the corners of the 

 'coffin' and four diagonal lines of nails in an 

 approximately zig-zagged pattern. This arrangement 

 is suggestive of braces nailed diagonally across the 

 planks somewhat in the manner of a braced door. 

 A minimum total of 25 nails is higher than average 

 for a nailed coffin if compared with burials of a 

 similar date from Poundbury, Dorset (Farwell and 

 Mollesson 1993) where the sample number is large. 

 In fact the late Roman burials of Site C at 

 Poundbury averaged only 12 nails per coffin. The 

 nail plan mirroring the grave pit, tapers from one 

 end to the other, the eastern end being the widest. 

 It seems that the body had been decapitated, 

 although it cannot be known if this was after death 

 or was the cause of death; the severed head was 

 placed to the south of the feet within the 'coffin' 

 along with a complete pot. The foot bones do not 

 survive, but on or close to the feet was a group of 

 hobnails, which are undoubtedly the remains of 

 boots provided for the afterlife. The feet were at the 

 west end of the grave. It is possible that the coffin 

 was mistakenly placed in the grave the 'wrong way' 

 round, but this presumes that the deceased were 

 Christian. Given that the coffin appears taper 

 making the 'head' and 'foot' end distinguishable 

 from each other, and that the burial is also a 

 decapitation it is likely that the intention was to 

 place the corpse with its feet to the east. 



Inhumation 2 



A grave containing an extended adult burial to the 

 south of Inhumation 1 . The grave had been 

 disturbed at the southwestern corner by the later 

 insertion of a land drain. It is probable that the land 

 drain has disturbed to southwest corner of the coffin 



and consequently nails may be missing from this 

 part of the grave. A minimum of 34 nails (based on 

 head count) were recorded. In addition eight nail 

 shank fragments were present, some of these, if not 

 all, undoubtedly belong to the fragments with heads 

 and probably do not represent further nails. The 

 grave plan, although disturbed at the head end, 

 seems to suggest a different style of construction 

 from the 'coffin' for Inhumation l.This example is 

 heavily nailed at the head and foot end of the 'coffin' 

 with at least 23 of the nails planned at the head or 

 foot of the grave. The remaining nails which lie 

 between the extremes of the coffin form no distinct 

 pattern. A group of four seem to delineate the 

 northern edge of the coffin, with another set 

 grouped loosely in the centre of the southern side. 

 Again there is no indication that any were used to 

 secure a lid or top to the structure. The number of 

 nails used in the construction of the coffin is again 

 higher than the average, at least at Poundbury. This 

 burial was accompanied by a complete pot, again 

 close to the head, and a single coin below or in the 

 left hand (see above), but no hobnails. At 

 Poundbury, Dorset Dr Ellison notes a mutual 

 exclusivity between coins and hobnails (Ellison in 

 Farwell and Mollesson 1993). 



A possible third object accompanying the body 

 was recognised during the writing of this report. The 

 object (Cat. No 6, Figure 16.6) appears, from the 

 X-radiographs, to be an iron spoon. It was located 

 close to the lower left leg. The object is in two pieces. 



Inhumation 3 



The northern most of the three rectilinear grave 

 pits. This burial was apparently uncoffined as no 

 timber nails were recovered, although jointed, 

 pegged and/or glued construction methods are of 

 course possible but archaeologically undetectable. 

 The burial was accompanied by two groups of 

 hobnails. The first (SF187), a group of 21 hobnails 

 on or by the feet as Inhumation 1; the second a 

 smaller group (SF163) of four hobnails close by 

 the left elbow. Given that this burial appears to have 

 been provided with a pair of boots, perhaps worn, 

 it seems possible that this small group represents 

 another, otherwise undetectable, object. Again at 

 Poundbury hobnails were found in the vicinity of 

 the arms, but whether those represented boots or 

 another artefact type is unknown. 



F3136 



A small sub-circular cut located between 



Inhumations 1 and 3. The only items recovered from 



