Monument record 0611200000 - 200M SE OF RISLIP FARM

?SMALL CEMETERY OF PERHAPS SEVEN INDIVIDUALS (ONE POSSIBLE CREMATION) ASSOCIATED WITH BONE COMB FRAGS AND POT SHERDS. POTTERY INCLUDED GRASS TEMPERED SAXON SHERDS AND FLINT GRITTED SHERDS. CEMETERY LOCATED JUST OFF THE HILL CREST. DISCOVERED DUE TO QUARRYING ACTIVITIES (B1).
Remains of five inhumations were discovered during quarrying. On the basis of loosely associated finds, including two iron knives and a bone comb, it is believed that these represent a small, badly damaged, early Saxon cemetery. A small quantity of later prehistoric worked flint and pottery indicated some form of earlier activity, perhaps during the later Bronze Age/early Iron Age. All five burials were orientated E-W and were extended and supine, with heads to the west. Only two grave cuts were visible and there was no evidence for the burial rites had survived. There were no indications that burial had taken place in coffins, and the position of the limbs close to the body in the only instance of relatively complete preservation (burial 004) seems to indicate burial in a shroud. It is probable most, perhaps all, of the artefacts discovered on the spoilheap represent grave goods; certainly none of the items recovered would be out of place in a funerary complex. One of the knives may be dated to the seventh century; other than this the items are undiagnostic. It is likely therefore that the cemetery was in use for a relatively brief period around the seventh century, but greater precision is impossible. The location of the cemetery on the crest of a ridge is typical of the period, although the site is some distance from the parish boundary. It is possible that the early Saxon cemetery was sited on or near the foci of earlier, Bronze Age funerary activity, if the prehistoric material is derived from a barrow on the hill crest. The date and function of the ditch which crossed the site is unknown, but it appears to be later than the cemetery, which it cuts. See report for detail (B3).