The burial in the Ditch

In 1978 an inhumation of an adult male was discovered cut into the secondary fills of the Ditch (Evans et al 1984). The date of this burial therefore provides a terminus ante quem for the silting up of the Ditch and the associated cremation cemetery. The burial was accompanied by three barbed-and-tanged arrowheads and a wristguard. Its fill contained three fragments of bluestone, so it can be assigned to phase 3.

Five radiocarbon determinations are available from the skeleton (results). Analysis of these results provides an estimate of 2400-2140 cal BC for the burial (see probability distribution). This is slightly earlier than the previous estimate of 2340-1930 cal BC, provided by the single determination processed in 1979.

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