Sutton Common Updated project design - University of Exeter

This evidence not only tallies with the archaeological interpretation of a very short phase of
human activity on the Common, but also suggests that the abandonment was an abrupt event,
rather than a slow decline.
Phase III: (provisionally: late Iron Age or early Roman period)
One of the most remarkable results of the recent excavations was the discovery of a ‘cemetery’,
provisionally dated to the late Iron Age or early Roman period. The cemetery comprises c. 30
geometrically shaped ‘mini enclosures’, maximum 3 m long and 2 m wide, with circular, semicircular,
near-square, rectangular and oblong shapes present. In two instances, concentrated
cremation remains were found within these mini enclosures, and at least one of these was
found in a posthole of a former 4-post structure – the stone packing for this post was still in
place. In the other instances, no concentration of cremation remains were found, but ‘flecks’
and fragments of cremation remains were found in the narrow ditch fills. The majority of these
mini enclosures were badly truncated, and their function was not recognised until the 2003
campaign. Many of the ditches of these mini enclosures intercut, suggesting (again) shortterm
use rather than monumental design.
Only one small find was found in situ within the cemetery: a green glass bead. However,
about 15 minutes before the end of the excavations in 2003, local metal detector enthusiast
Ian Stead invited by the excavators to complete his full survey of the excavations, found a
strip of hammered gold from the area of the cemetery. Initial analysis puts the find in the later
part of the 1 st century BC-1 st century AD, providing a provisional date for the cemetery.
We interpret the cemetery as a re-use of the marsh fort as an example of the archaeology of
memory/use of the past in the past, with the mini enclosures being on purpose ephemeral,
being the place of secondary deposition (and occasional burial) of the cremation remains.
The mini enclosures may have enclosed small mounds, but we have found no evidence for
this. The cemetery was found on the western third of the larger enclosure only, and may have
been matched by similar structures on the east side of the small enclosure across the
palaeochannel of the Hampole Beck. The cemetery has no known parallels.
AP of the set of small enclosures containing cremations and cremated fragments in Trench 7
© CCT/ APS UK
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