Burnt mounds in the East Midlands.

Burnt mounds in the East Midlands. Within the last decade the emphasis of burnt mound research hasbeen refocused on the prehistoric landscapes in which they are set in anattempt to evade just the perennial enigma of `function'. In theEast Midlands, gravel quarrying in the major river valleys has providedan opportunity to examine large areas that have hitherto been masked byalluvium al��lu��vi��um?n. pl. al��lu��vi��ums or al��lu��vi��aSediment deposited by flowing water, as in a riverbed, flood plain, or delta. Also called alluvion. and the resulting wealth of archaeological information hasincluded five burnt mound sites. The first site was located on a palaeochannel of the river Soar inBirstall, Leicestershire, and contained the usual attributes of a burntmound; a shallow crescent-shaped mound of fire-cracked stone andcharcoal, two hearths and a trough. The trough was circular, lined withtangentially split oak planks and the sides were supported by wovenwattle-work in the form of a basket (FIGURE 1). Immediately adjacent tothe mound two parallel rows of oak posts extended across thepalaeochannel -- perhaps the remains of a bridge or jetty. Animal boneswere recovered from the palaeochannel silts including a decapitatedhorse skull and the remains of butchered cattle and aurochs aurochs:see cattle. aurochsor aurochExtinct wild ox (Bos primigenius) of Europe, the species from which cattle are probably descended. The aurochs survived in central Poland until 1627. It was black, stood 6 ft (1. . Elsewherefrom the same channel deposits human bones were also recovered,representing the remains of at least two adult males. One skull, datedto cal BC 1040-810 (OxA-6831), had a series of sharp cut marks on theposterior of the atlas vertebrae VertebraeBones in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of the body that make up the vertebral column. Vertebrae have a central foramen (hole), and their superposition makes up the vertebral canal that encloses the spinal cord. . The cuts had not healed, indicatingthat they were inflicted at the time of or following death and suggestsome form of either de-fleshing or decapitation DecapitationSee also Headlessness.Antoinette, Marie(1755–1793) queen of France beheaded by revolutionists. [Fr. Hist.: NCE, 1697]Argoslulled to sleep and beheaded by Hermes. [Gk. Myth. . [FIGURE 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The second burnt mound was located on a palaeochannel of the riverTrent at Castle Donington, Leicestershire, and included an oval mound,two hearths, sundry pits and an unlined trough. Cattle teeth were foundin the trough and a few fragments of domestic animal bone were againfound in the adjacent palaeochannel, with one cattle femur femur(fē`mər): see leg. showingscrape marks associated with skinning bone. A hundred metres downstreama second burnt mound was also located and, within a 400-m radius,further excavations also produced Bronze Age flint scatters, pits, apost-built roundhouse and a small ring ditch. The fourth burnt mound at Willington, Derbyshire, on the edge of asilted palaeochannel, had clearly been re-used. An early phase of moundwas later augmented by a substantial timber-lined trough (FIGURE 2)built of whole and split birch or alder logs laid in a cut, withcharcoal packing behind. Within the silted channel beside the trough laya spread of cut branches and logs, perhaps dumped to consolidate themarshy marsh��y?adj. marsh��i��er, marsh��i��est1. Of, resembling, or characterized by a marsh or marshes; boggy.2. Growing in marshes. ground. Other Bronze Age material was largely absent from theremaining quarried area with the exception, once again, of an undated un��dat��ed?adj.1. Not marked with or showing a date: an undated letter; an undated portrait.2. ring ditch some 400 m away. [FIGURE 2 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] All the above examples are Bronze Age, but the fifth burnt moundsite, also at Willington, appears to date from the Late Neolithic.Impressed wares and flints were recovered in some abundance from acrescentic mound partly skirted by a metalled approach, and unusuallylocated near the apex of a gravel island, between palaeochannels. Ahearth and two probable troughs were arranged in a line at the centre.Charred hazelnut shells and sloe stones were present in the mound andtrough deposits and fragments of calcined cattle tooth were also foundin the latter. This example was set in a local environment of other LateNeolithic spreads, pits and post-holes. The East Midlands burnt mounds expand the distribution and recordeddetail for mainland Britain. The limited quantities of animal bonereaffirm that cooking may have formed at least part of the proceedings.The location of the sites in marshy ground, while at variance withcontemporary ideas of cleanliness, suggests that the marshy area itselfmay have held appeal, providing a resource such as reeds and withieswhich would leave little trace in the archaeological record. Theevidence of a bridge, an area of hard-standing and a metalled surfaceindicate repeated activity by a number of people -- the attendant ringditches seen on two of the sites and the deliberate killing could evensuggest a ceremonial aspect to the burnt mound ritual. MATT BEAMISH & SUSAN RIPPER, University of Leicester HistoryThe University was founded as Leicestershire and Rutland College in 1918. The site for the University was donated by a local textile manufacturer, Thomas Fielding Johnson, in order to create a living memorial for those who lost their lives in World War I. Archaeological Services, School of Archaeological Studies, University ofLeicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, England. mgb3@le.ac.uksar6@le.ac.uk