Information for record number MWA1383:
Bronze Age burial & beaker, Leamington Spa

Summary A burial and a drinking cup dating to the Bronze Age were found in Lillington.
What Is It?  
Type: Burial, Inhumation
Period: Late Neolithic - Early Bronze Age (3000 BC - 1601 BC)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Leamington Spa
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 33 67
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

 
Source Number  

1 Human skull, drinking cup and spindle-whorl found at Lillington.
3 A 'C' Beaker in Warwick Museum is said to be the drinking cup referred to. The association of beaker and spindle-whorl could not be accounted for and it must be assumed that these objects were found separately. The exact provenance is not known.
4 Beaker is said to have been held previously by SS.
5 Neolithic. Bell beaker, type N/MR.
6 A skull and cup found in Lillington gravel pit at 1.4m below the ground surface. Stanley suggests that they were associated and his description definitely refers to the beaker
8 The spindle whorl is not mentioned and it seems likely that this was the Saxon example (PRN 1382). The most likely location for the Lillington gravel pit is at the above grid reference. A sand pit is marked here on the OS 1938-9 1:10560.
9 1939 OS Map.
 
Sources

Source No: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: WM
Author/originator:
Date: 1976
Page Number: 3088-9
Volume/Sheet: Accession Card
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 6, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1951
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: VI
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 1, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Doubleday H A & Page W (eds)
Date: 1904
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 1
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: PWFC
Author/originator: Warwickshire Field club
Date: 1903
Page Number: 45
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: PWFC
Author/originator: Stanley S S
Date: 1901
Page Number: 11
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Map
Title: 1:10560 33NE 1938-9
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1938-9
Page Number: 33NE
Volume/Sheet: 10560
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 39SE2
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1951
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 39SE2
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator: Thomas N
Date: 1974
Page Number: 21
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: R.C. Hingley personal comments
Author/originator: R C Hingley
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source OS Card Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments. back
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
source WM Warwickshire Museum Aerial Photograph Collection. A collection of oblique and vertical aerial photographs and taken by various organisations and individuals, including the Royal Airforce, The Potato Board, Warwickshire Museum. The collection is held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
period Neolithic About 4000 BC to 2351 BC

The word ‘Neolithic’ means ‘New Stone Age’. Archaeologists split up the Neolithic period into three phases; early, middle and late. The Neolithic period comes after the Mesolithic period and before the Bronze Age.

People in the Neolithic period hunted and gathered food as their ancestors had but they were also began to farm. They kept animals and grew crops. This meant that they were able to settle more permanently in one location instead of constantly moving from place to place to look for food.
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period Bronze Age About 2500 BC to 700 BC

The Bronze Age comes after the Neolithic period and before the Iron Age.

The day to day life of people in the Bronze Age probably changed little from how their ancestors had lived during the Neolithic period. They still lived in farmsteads, growing crops and rearing animals.

During the Bronze Age people discovered how to use bronze, an alloy of tin and copper (hence the name that has given to this era). They used it to make their tools and other objects, although they continued to use flint and a range of organic materials as well. A range of bronze axes, palstaves and spears has been found in Warwickshire.
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monument INHUMATION * An interment of unburnt, articulated human remains. Use specific type where known. back
monument SAND PIT * A pit from which sand is excavated. back
monument MUSEUM * A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other artefacts are housed and displayed. back
monument GRAVEL PIT * A steep-sided pit formed by, and for, the extraction of gravel. back
monument BURIAL * An interment of human or animal remains. Use specific type where known. If component use with wider site type. Use FUNERARY SITE for optimum retrieval in searches. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record