Scheduled Ancient Monument: Anglo Saxon cemetery at Flixton Quarry (1433149)

The Flixton II Anglo-Saxon cemetery lies immediately above the 16m contour within a small, north-facing promontory overlooking the western end of a shallow eastern-facing depression immediately to the north. It is situated on a spur of land 500-600m directly south of the Anglo-Saxon settlement which itself looked northwards to the River Waveney and southwards to the prehistoric monuments and the cemeteries. Approximately 138 unexcavated burials lie within the scheduled area. A comprehensive and detailed publication of the surrounding and associated excavations (2012, Boulter and Walton Rogers) offers clear evidence of the archaeological potential of the unexcavated areas and much of the detail within this assessment draws heavily on this publication. DESCRIPTION The graves are aligned roughly west-south-west to east-north-east, which is comparable to most East Anglian cemeteries but slightly modified by the topography of the site. This stretch of the Waveney Valley runs south-west to north-east and the graves follow both the contours of the land and the alignment of the Romano-British field system to the south. Most variation is in the southern cluster of graves where the round barrow and its surrounding ring ditch have influenced the orientation of the burial. Where there was evidence for the orientation of the bodies in the graves they were found to be almost exclusively head to the west. Where the burials are reversed it is women who are being treated differently, with their heads to the east. The graves were cut in a range of shapes, from oval, through parallel-sided with a rounded end, to rectangular, but there was no detectable pattern in relation to date, gender or age. Grave size, however, had more significance, and there were obvious differences between the smaller graves in the early, northern part of the main plot and those to the south. The latter appear to have been dug to a greater depth than the others. The southern graves were also longer and wider, often over 2m long, even though there was no clear evidence for coffins or biers, and no grave goods large enough to warrant the extra space. Following analysis of the excavated material it can be shown that grave size was related to both gender and date. The smallest graves, less than 1.5m in length have been classified as the burials of children. In the tight northern part of the cemetery some graves overlapped and in one case appeared to have been reopened in a deliberate act of reuse. These consecutive ‘stacked’ burials often involve a man and a woman and have sometimes been interpreted as burial in a grave of a pre-deceased spouse. There were also three examples of two bodies being buried in the same grave, seemingly at the same time. In each case the bodies had been laid out side by side with heads pointing in the same direction. This practice is found in all parts of early Anglo-Saxon England, and several different combinations have been noted, the most common being a woman with a child, closely followed by a man with a woman. A family relationship is often assumed in double burials that include a child. The preservation of skeletal remains and other organic materials, including containers in which the bodies had been placed, was poor throughout the site but enough evidence was retrieved to imply the common use of a bier, animal hide or heavy wool rug in the burial practices. In one grave, dark linear soil stains indicate either a coffin or a timber grave-lining was used and another four graves suggest the use of a small chamber, coffin or rectangular bier. These were found in the northern area of the cemetery but one example of timber preserved on a shield boss in the southern area does suggest a coffin or wooden planks were laid over the burial. Other organic wrappings of textile, leather or vegetable matter, which have largely been destroyed by post-depositional processes, have been identified in mineralised products on grave goods. In the northern third of the main plot a series of post holes were recorded close to the edges of the graves. The number of instances where graves encroached upon an earlier burial was small and their overall arrangement indicated a deliberate semi-formal layout with graves lined up on a south-west to north-east orientation end-to-end rows and also positioned side by side. This implies a grave marker or above ground structure was employed in order to recognise earlier burials and deter encroachment. Historic England Advice Report 07 May 2019 Page 7 of 8 A degree of organisation in the cemetery is also recognised, in the northern part of the main cemetery the mound there is evidence for some form of segregation. There is a small group on the ring ditch (included in the scheduled area) that includes a child and possibly an adult woman but most of the burials on or next to grouping. Despite the poor preservation of the skeletons, it is clear from the surviving artefacts and their disposition in the grave that the dead were placed in the grave fully clothed, and weaponry and personal equipment arranged on and around the body. The artefacts can be grouped according to function, as garment fasteners (brooches, clasps, pins and buckets), decorative accessories (necklaces and a finger ring), girdle groups (bag fittings, rings and keys, female-gender accessories suspended from the belt), knives and tools, weapons (shield fittings, spear heads and ferules) and domestic utensils (glassware and ceramics). The preservation of organic material is poor but fragments of mineralised cloth, leather, wood and horn has enabled reconstruction and interpretation of a considerably wider range of grave goods. The artefacts have enabled a good understanding of the status of the people buried in the cemeteries; most are simple, plain artefacts which were found to be worn, damaged or repaired. Repairs to metalwork are not unusual in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries but the re-use of broken artefacts is particularly common at Flixton. The metalwork is typically Anglo-Saxon but the textiles indicate some survival of Romano-British skills. More surprisingly among the women’s garment accessories, there is a small group of finds with features of design and technology that have parallels, not in the local sites but at Empingham II, Rutland, and its neighbouring cemeteries. The Anglo-Saxon evidence from Flixton indicates both the settlement and cemeteries are directly related; artefacts from the settlement excavation are consistent with those deposited as grave goods in the cemetery, both chronologically and economically. They are generally not exceptional in terms of status and wealth and as such are considered to represent an average section of the population. Flixton is considered to represent a community on the outskirts of a major territory, evolving and restructuring to meet changing circumstances, before finally disappearing back into the landscape of barrows in which it had first appeared. EXTENT OF SCHEDULING On the ground, the cemetery currently (2016) appears as a relatively flat area of grassland. It measures approximately 50m by 100m, marked by a series of 5ft steel poles. It is understood there is an overhead electric line, supported on poles, one to the south abutting the scheduled monument and another on the northern limit of the monument.