Information for record number MWA1842:
Bronze Age Cemetery at Ryton-on-Dunsmore

Summary The remains of a Bronze Age cremation cemetery and an enclosure were found during an excavation. The remains were found 600m east of Bubbenhall.
What Is It?  
Type: Cemetery, Cremation Cemetery, Enclosure
Period: Early Iron Age - Iron Age (1000 BC - 701 BC)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Ryton on Dunsmore
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 37 72
(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
Picture(s) attached

 
Description

 
Source Number  

1 Site threatened by gravel extraction and excavated by CADAS from 1965-70. A Late Bronze Age cremation cemetery and enclosure were discovered, overlain by an Iron Age settlement (PRN 5510). There appeared to be three groups of cremations. Five pits in Group 1, five in Group 2 and one in Group 3 contained pottery. Three radiocarbon dates fall into the later Bronze Age. The pots are mostly bucket urns. The cemetery was roughly linear, and orientated NE-SW. enclosure A was a D-shaped enclosure with an entrance in the SE side, and appears from a radiocarbon date to be broadly contemporary with the cemetery. There could have been some form of relationship between the cemetery and the enclosure, although this is uncertain.
4 Air photograph.
5 Two D shaped enclosures, a large rectangular enclosure on the edge of Ryton Wood (See Record MWA4717), a penannular enclosure near to The Bungalow beside the A445 and a series of ditches were mapped as part of the English Heritage National Mapping Project.
 
Sources

Source No: 5
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title: SP3772 Frame 13
Author/originator: CUCAP
Date: 7 July 1963
Page Number: Frame 13
Volume/Sheet: SP3772
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title:
Author/originator: J Pickering
Date: 1962
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: SP4489 C/D/E/X
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Plan
Title: TBAS vol 88
Author/originator: Bateman J
Date: 1976
Page Number: Fig 3
Volume/Sheet: 88
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Serial
Title: Archaeological Journal 1964
Author/originator: Webster G and Hobley B
Date: 1964
Page Number: 22
Volume/Sheet: 121
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 88
Author/originator: various
Date: 1978
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
The site of a Bronze Age cemetery and enclosure near Bubbenhall
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Click here for larger image  
 
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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
technique excavation Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.

Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.
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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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period Iron Age About 800 BC to 43 AD

The Iron Age comes after the Bronze Age and before the Roman period. It is a time when people developed the skills and knowledge to work and use iron, hence the name ‘Iron Age’ which is given to this period. Iron is a much tougher and more durable metal than bronze but it also requires more skill to make objects from it. People continued to use bronze during this period.
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monument CREMATION CEMETERY * A cemetery comprising exclusively cremated human remains, some or all of which may be contained within pottery vessels. back
monument CREMATION * A funeral rite in which the human body is burnt, usually on a pyre, leaving fragmentary charred or completely combusted remains. Often found buried, occasionally in a container associated with grave goods. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument URN * A garden ornament, usually of stone or metal, designed in the the form of a vase used to receive the ashes of the dead. back
monument RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE * A rectangular shaped area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or similar barrier. back
monument PIT * A hole or cavity in the ground, either natural or the result of excavation. Use more specific type where known. back
monument ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or other similar barrier. Use specific type where known. back
monument CEMETERY * An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead. back
monument WOOD * A tract of land with trees, sometimes acting as a boundary or barrier, usually smaller and less wild than a forest. back
monument D SHAPED ENCLOSURE * An area of land, in the shape of a D, enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or similar barrier. back
monument DITCH * A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year. back
monument BUNGALOW * A one-storey house. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record