Rural Life, Roman Ways? Examination of Late Iron Age to Late Romano-British Burial Practice and Mobility at Dog Hole Cave, Cumbria

O'Regan, Hannah J.; Bland, Keith; Evans, Jane; Holmes, Matilda; McLeod, Kirsty; Philpott, Robert; Smith, Ian; Thorp, John; Wilkinson, David M.

Abstract

The scarcity of Romano-British human remains from north-west England has hindered understanding of burial practice in this region. Here, we report on the excavation of human and non-human animal remains and material culture from Dog Hole Cave, Haverbrack. Foetal and neonatal infants had been interred alongside a horse burial and puppies, lambs, calves and piglets in the very latest Iron Age to early Romano-British period, while the mid- to late Roman period is characterised by burials of older individuals with copper-alloy jewellery and beads. This material culture is more characteristic of urban sites, while isotope analysis indicates that the later individuals were largely from the local area. We discuss these results in terms of burial ritual in Cumbria and rural acculturation. Supplementary material is available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000136), and contains further information about the site and excavations, small finds, zooarchaeology, human osteology, site taphonomy, the palaeoenvironment, isotope methods and analysis, and finds listed in Benson and Bland 1963.

Citation

O'Regan, H. J., Bland, K., Evans, J., Holmes, M., McLeod, K., Philpott, R., …Wilkinson, D. M. (2020). Rural Life, Roman Ways? Examination of Late Iron Age to Late Romano-British Burial Practice and Mobility at Dog Hole Cave, Cumbria. Britannia, 51, 83-116. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000136

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 17, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 29, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Deposit Date: May 31, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 13, 2020
• Journal: Britannia
• Print ISSN: 0068-113X
• Electronic ISSN: 1753-5352
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Pages: 83-116
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000136
• Keywords: Horse burial; Infant burial; Gold-in-glass beads; Rural settlement
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2116009
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/britannia/article/rural-life-roman-ways-examination-of-late-iron-age-to-late-romanobritish-burial-practice-and-mobility-at-dog-hole-cave-cumbria/3D2D23BC2E6836FCB0FA0DEAECD642B0
• Additional Information: © Cambridge University Press 2020