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Record Details

NHER Number:1011
Type of record:Monument
Name:Early Saxon inhumation cemetery

Summary

An important example of an inhumation cemetery, dating to the Early Saxon period. Over 60 individual graves have been excavated by the Norfolk Archaeological Unit. Due to the conditions of the acidic soil, human remains were not well preserved, but a remarkable number of well preserved grave goods were recovered, including brooches, beads, shield bosses, spear heads, a sword, rings and gilded mounts, and a rare example of a Saxon lyre. The cemetery, situated on a small hill above a stream, was probably much larger, but gravel extraction may have destroyed many unrecorded graves.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 3060 0017
Map Sheet:TG30SW
Parish:BERGH APTON, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

1973. Excavation.
Carried out by Norwich Museum, Norfolk Archaeological Unit and Norfolk Research Committee. Uncovering an early Saxon inhumation cemetery whilst digging gravel pits on a small hill which is above the Well Beck. It was estimated that at least half of the cemetery was destroyed but the north and east limits of the cemetery were clearly defined. Sixty-eight graves of 5th to 7th centuries were recorded but from this only thirty-one contained any traces of human bone due to the acidic soil, fifty-eight of the burials contained grave-goods.
The grave-goods were used to help determine the orientation and sex of the bodies. It was found that twenty-three were of undetermined sex, fifteen identified as male and twenty-five as female. It was assessed that from their size, eighteen of the burial may have contained children. Grave-goods that were found included shield bosses tinned and gold bronze mounts which were in the form of dogs with beaked heads, a sword and from the same grave the iron bands from a bucket, all of these finds were associated with male graves. The most common brooch was the flat bronze annular brooch found in nineteen of the graves; other brooches included small-long brooches, cruciform brooches and square-headed brooch. These were found together with bronze girdle-hanger, iron keys and a possible stringed instrument. Most of these finds are now in the NCM (NWHCM : L1976.4).
See published report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2) and (S3) and noted in newspaper articles (S4) and (S5).
For further discussion of this site and its finds see (S6) and (S7).
E. B. Green (NCM) 1973 amended by M. Langham-Lopez (HES) 30 May 2013.

Monument Types

  • CEMETERY (Early Saxon - 410 AD to 650 AD)
  • INHUMATION (Early Saxon - 410 AD to 650 AD)

Associated Finds

  • LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • POT (Late Prehistoric - 4000 BC to 42 AD)
  • COIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • DRESS COMPONENT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • PIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • VESSEL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • BEAD (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • BEAD (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • BROOCH (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • BUCKET (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • BUCKLE (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • FINGER RING (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • GIRDLE HANGER (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • KEY (LOCKING) (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • KNIFE (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • LYRE (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • PENDANT (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • POT (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • RING (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • SHIELD (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • SLEEVE CLASP (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • SPEAR (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • SWORD (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Photograph: Various.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 30 SW 22.
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Early Saxon. Bergh Apton.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
---Fiche: Exists.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - Right-hand joint after conservation (lower half of copper alloy plate removed). Paper. 2:1.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - Right-hand joint, showing positions of tenon, rivets and peg-hole. Paper. 2:1.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - The main surviving metal components. Paper. 2:1.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - Anglo-Saxon lyre joints. Paper. 1:1.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - Fragment D v, showing associated copper alloy strips and pins. Paper. 2:1.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - Fragment D v interpreted. Paper. 1:1.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - Early Medieval lyre-straps. Paper. Not to scale.
---Illustration: [Unknown]. [Unknown]. The Lyre from Grave 22 - Anglo-Saxon lyre structure: grain of wood in arch and joints. Paper. Not to scale.
<S1>Monograph: Green, B. and Rogerson, A. 1978. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Bergh Apton, Norfolk: Catalogue. East Anglian Archaeology. No 7.
<S2>Article in Serial: Green, B. 1973. Recent Work and Discoveries - The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Bergh Apton 1973. Norfolk Research Committee Newsletter and Bulletin. Series 2 No 11 pp 3-4.
<S3>Article in Serial: Webster, L. E. and Cherry, J. 1974. Medieval Britain in 1973. Medieval Archaeology. Vol XVIII pp 174-223. pp 180-181.
<S4>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1976. Two pagan cemetery sites uncovered. 12 February.
<S5>Newspaper Article: Eastern Evening News. 1973. Norfolk dig: rare items found. 17 May.
<S6>Monograph: Penn, K. and Brugmann, B. 2007. Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Inhumation Burial: Morning Thorpe, Spong Hill, Bergh Apton and Westgarth Gardens. No 119.
<S7>Article in Serial: Brownswood, R. and Hines, J. 1993. The Alloys of a Sample of Anglo-Saxon Great Square-Headed Brooches. Antiquaries Journal. Vol 73 pp 1-10. p 1.

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