Cannington Cemetery: 17 (Britannia Monographs) - Softcover

A report on the excavations (1962-63) at the Late and Post-Roman site of Cannington in Somerset, on the shores of the Bristol Channel. This comprehensive report includes information on earlier investigations at the site, as well as evidence recovered from earlier periods. The report opens with a discussion of the topography, geology and nature of the site, followed by the excavation methodology. Individual chapters are deal with the Roman inhumation burials from the cemetery, the grave goods, dating and phasing, the biology of the human remains including pathology, health and dentition, physical characteristics and age, sex and mortality profiles. The grave goods and other finds are presented in detail along with illustrations and statistical analysis. The final discussion places the evidence in context and explores the broader significance of the development of the cemetery and grave types.

This monograph presents a cemetery of over 500 burials of the 3rd to 8th centuries AD, and is key evidence for the population of Somerset in the period of transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon times. A wide range of artefacts, including pottery, glass and metalwork, is representative of the Roman, western British and Anglo-Saxon elements in the cultural mix of the burying population. There are major sections on the character and development of the cemetery, on the human biology and on the context of the cemetery in late Roman and post-Roman settlement in Somerset, especially temples and hill forts.