90 THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 
4 | 
Wroughton 
Broad Town 
Marlborough 
N 
Wootton 
Bacseth Cuff's Corner 
% é i y/, Roads “Earlier Tracks 
Burial Location /f Modern ie & Footpaths 
Fig 1. Burial location, with local routes and destinations 
slight difference of soil matrix was noted in the 
deposit above the grave. That said, the grave was 
presumably rectangular in shape when first dug 
owing to the position of the remains. The grave was 
very shallow being on average 25 cm deep. 
The Burial 
The alignment of the grave was north-east to south- 
west with the head to the south-west. The body lay 
Fig 2. Burial viewed from the north-east 
supine, with the legs straight, and the arms flexed 
with the hands placed on the pelvis (Figure 2). The 
left arm (upper and lower), clavicle and ribcage 
were all missing, as were the cranium and 
mandible, all seven cervical vertebrae and the first 
four thoracic vertebrae (Figure 3). The individual 
has been estimated by Jacqueline McKinley of 
Wessex Archaeology as between 35-45 years old, 
1.705 metres (5 ft. 7% in.) tall, and male. 
Pathology 
The spinal column shows the beginnings of 
osteoarthritis with slight lipping evident on the 
lumbar vertebrae and first three thoracic vertebrae. 
Slight bone nodules on the rear of the iliac crest and 
a pronounced linea aspersa on both left and right 
femurs suggest the individual may have spent a 
significant amount of time riding. Muscular 
damage to single bones in the left hand and the left 
foot also suggest horse-related injuries, perhaps 
from a fall (McKinley pers com). 
CERAMIC FINDS 
Six ceramic sherds were recovered during the 
excavation, three from the burial itself, the 
remainder from the subsoil; all were inspected by 
Rachael Seager-Smith of Wessex Archaeology. The 
sherds spanned the Mid/Late Iron Age up to the 4th 
Century AD, and their well rounded condition 
suggest that they were residual. 
DATING 
In response to the lack of reliable dating the 
University of Bath in Swindon funded a 
radiocarbon determination at the Research 
Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, 
Oxford. A date of 1430+-45 BP (OxA 11173) was 
obtained from the right femur, which calibrates to 
possible calendar date ranges of 595-665 cal AD at 
68% probability or 540-680 cal AD at 95.4% 
probability. 
DISCUSSION 
The position of the Broad Town burial is important 
for a number of reasons. The site is visually 
prominent over a wide area. It is situated just a few 
