EARLY ROMAN BURIAL IN DARTFORD
PAUL HUTCHINGS
with contributions by
Malcolm Lyne, Jacqueline McKinley and Ian Riddler
Alec Detsicas summarised the evidence for Roman settlement in
Dartford in his volume on the Cantiaci, and usefully brought together
accounts stretching back over almost a century (Detsicas I 983, 80).
The Roman archaeology of Dartford remains elusive, although smallscale
evaluations and excavations at its centre are beginning to develop
our understanding. This small contribution by staff of the Canterbury
Archaeological Trust and two external specialists is presented
as a reminder of how useful Alec's survey has been, and how we are
indebted to him.
Following a desk-based assessment undertaken for the new Sainsbury'
s supermarket at the Priory Centre in Dartford, an archaeological
evaluation took place in advance of redevelopment. Three trenches
(Fig. 1, Trenches 1-3) were cut across the area (presently Beadle's
show court and car service area) to determine the presence or absence
of any surviving archaeological remains. Work began in October 1998
and took place over three consecutive weekends under the direction
of the writer. Further trenches were later opened in an area thought to
contain Roman cremation burials (Trenches 4 and 5) but these yielded
no additional evidence. A further two trenches were subsequently
excavated in adjacent land formerly belonging to the Gala bingo hall
(Trenches 6 and 7). These latter trenches provided some further evidence
of Roman activity. A watching brief maintained during groundworks
for the development also provided some additional information.
The Priory Centre site (NGR: TQ 5400 7395) is largely flat with a
slight downward slope from west to east. Located on flood plain
gravel, overlying Upper Chalk, the site lies at +4.80m OD and is situated
within the valley of the River Darent which is located approximately
1km to the east.
Roman finds were reported during the building of the present car
103
Beadles office•
Possible pyre debris ?
} '
----------1---------J
,-.---.J
'
I
_,
PAUL HUTCHJNGS
Gala car park
I
.
Fig. 1 Site location;
plan o f excavation
trenches.
Tr.3
/ I adleslc..- 11 I: I L
_ _ :owroom
___ Pyr e,/30yr F
burial
umed 599 .4 l ) adult min. op- IC, lL;ddd-S1; bird;
burial >50 yr one oa - IT; exo. - iliac crest, glass
2) adult F proximal ulna, femur
>18 yr shaft, left patella
=9a 207.5 I) older F oa- lC, IT bird;
adult glass
?2) adult
KEY: op - osteophytes; ddd - degenerative disc disease; oa - osteoarthritis;
exo. - exostoses; C- cervical; T- thoracic; L- lumbar; S - sacral
Due to the nature of the archaeological investigations (see above) the remains
of Cremation Burial 1 were not fully excavated and it has been estimated
that c. 50 per cent of fills were remov·ed. The fragmentary nature of the
three vessels comprising grave goods in Cremation Burial 1 suggests some
level of disturbance to the deposit. The urned burial (Cremation Burial 2)
was largely intact though there had been some disturbance damaging the
upper 20 per cent of the vessel. The bone appeared in good condition, and
included fragments of both compact and trabecular bone suggesting the soil
conditions were not adverse to good bone survival (McKinley 199 7, 57).
The remains of a minimum of two adults were identified, one from each
burial. Most of the bone in Cremation Burial 2 and from the grave backfill (9)
represents the remains of an elder female, but fragments from a second adult
were recovered from both deposits. These additional fragments may represent
the formal burial of a second individual, i .e. the burial was of the remains
from a dual cremation, or may have accidentally been incorporated
within this deposit during collection of bone from the pyre site for burial. If
the pyre site was used for a succession of cremations and clearance of debris
between events was inefficient, bone from an early cremation on the site not
114
EARLY ROMAN BURIAL IN DAR1FORD
collected for burial may have accidentally been incorporated with bone
fragments from a subsequent one. (NB. It is a characteristic of the rite of
disposal of the dead by cremation that not all the bone remaining after cremation
is incorporated in the burial, McKinley 1994a; 1997; 2000). It is,
therefore, conceivable that the additional bone from Cremation Burial 2 (9a
and 9) may pertain to the individual in Cremation Burial 1 (there is no duplication
of fragments).
The pathological lesions observed are largely indicative of joint disease,
the older adult female (Cremation Burial 2) had osteoarthritis at two sites -
cervical and thoracic vertebrae - and degenerative disc disease in a sacral
vertebra. Osteophytes (new bone around joint surface margins) and exostoses
(new bone at tendon and ligament insertions) generally show increased distribution
with age, largely reflecting 'wear-and-tear', though there may be
other predisposing factors (Rogers and Waldron 1987).
The bone from context 6a and the majority of that from 9a and 9 was white
in colour indicative of a high level of oxidation (Holden et al 1995 a and b).
Some bone fragments from 9a and 9 were blue or grey - the right temporal
region of the skull, right mandible and a few fragments of vault, fragments of
arm bone from the elbow region, fragments of distal femur and a foot phalanx.
Such a discrete distribution of poorly oxidised bone suggests specific
causes; the right side of the head and one elbow may have been covered, for
example by leather or fur, which would have impeded oxygen availability in
those specific areas, and the distal femur may have been similarly affected. In
a pyre cremation the lower leg and foot bones tend to burn earliest in the cremation
process by virtue of their lack of surrounding soft tissues (McKinley
1994a); the poor oxidation of a single foot phalanx (four recovered) may
indicate this one bone fell in amongst the fuel ash and was buried before it
had fully oxidised.
Since the remains of burial 6a were not fully recovered, and the bone from
9a and 9 may represent those of more than one individual, it would be inappropriate
to discuss the weight of bone included in the burials other than to
comment that the total weight of bone from grave I O represents a maximum
of 80 per cent of the expected weight of bone from an adult cremation
(McKinley 1993).
The majority (>65 per cent) of the bone from both burials was recovered
from the 10mm sieve fraction and the maximum fragment-size was 72mm
from burial 9a and 56mm from burial 6a. Numerous factors may contribute
towards the fragmentation of cremated bone, including the effects of soil infiltration
and movement in excavation (McKinley 1994b), and there is no
conclusive evidence for the bone being deliberately fragmented prior to
burial. Bone from all skeletal areas was represented within the burial and
there was no evidence to suggest deliberate selection of specific skeletal
elements.
Fragments of partridge-sized bird bone were recovered from all the deposits,
0.2g from Cremation Burial I, 2g from Cremation Burial 2 and 0.9g
from deposit 9. The inclusion of animals as pyre goods is a common theme
within the cremation rite, between I O and 50 per cent of burials from different
Romano-British cemeteries containing cremated animal bone
115
PAUL HUTCHINGS
(McKinley 2000; in prep.). Although domestic fowl was amongst the most
popular species, non-domestic bird has been recovered elsewhere (Barber
and Bowsher 2000). Fragments of melted glass - again, the remnants of pyre
goods - were also recovered from Cremation Burial 2 and deposit 9. Slight
charcoal flecking observed in context 6a and a fragment of burnt flint in
context 9a are likely to represent the accidental inclusion a small amounts of
pyre debris within the burials.
Approximately 26 per cent of the cremated bone from Cremation Burial 2
was recovered from the backfill of the grave [context 9) rather than the
burial. Since this deposit also contained fragments of pottery from the upper
part of the vessel, it is possible that the bone represents spill from the urn.
However, since the location of the bone within the fill is unknown, it cannot
be conclusively excluded that it represented a deliberate secondary deposit
outside the urn. The bone from the backfill represents the same individuals as
that contained within the urns - with joins between at least two fragments -
and a range of skeletal elements was present in both deposits.
DISCUSSION
by Paul Hutchings and Ian Riddler
The presence of two cremation burials within the general area implies
that a Roman cemetery survives in the vicinity of the site. Little can be
said, at present, of the nature of that cemetery, although the burials recovered
in this evaluation and watching brief are of early Roman date,
and belong to the late first century and the first half of the second century.
Alongside the cremation burials themselves, an area of burning was
also located, at some distance (approximately 50m) to the east. This
can possibly be identified as a pyre area, where the deceased were cremated.
It may equally well, however, represent redeposited debris
from a pyre area. A second deposit of possible pyre residue was located
some 50m to the north-east. Such areas, or ustrina, are known
from comparable sites in north-west Europe, although they have seldom
been encountered or discussed in any detail. Their characteristics
have, however, been summarised recently (Polfer 1996, 16-21
and 118-20; Barber and Bowsher 2000, 60-76). The debris seen at
Dartford corresponds with descriptions of comparable deposits found
elsewhere, as at Septfontaines-Deckt or London (Van Doorselar 1967,
106-7; Polfer 1996, 16-8; Barber and Bowsher 2000, 61). Ceramics
from the deposits suggest that they were contemporary with the cremation
burials.
Cremation burials were recovered from Trench 2, but later
disturbance had removed Roman deposits from Trenches 3 and 4. No
cremation burials or Roman finds were discovered to the south of the
pyre debris during the watching brief. The presence of pyre debris
116
EARLY ROMAN BURIAL IN DARTFORD
might suggest that the site lay on the fringes of the cemetery, at its
southern limit. It may extend further to the north, towards Spital
Street. The infant burials discovered at Spital Street (Hicks 1995,
417, 421 and 427-8) are not necessarily a part of the same cemetery,
given that infants were not always accorded the same burial rites as
adults. However, they were found immediately to the north of this
site, on the other side of Spital Street.
The location of Dartford, at a crossing point of the River Darent on
the main Roman road between London and Dover (Watling Street),
made it a convenient centre for settlement and industry. There is reasonable
archaeological evidence to support an argument for the presence
of a Roman settlement, possibly a small town, in the area. A
number of sites have yielded Roman remains including Spital Street,
Lowfield Street and the High Street (Fig. 8). Spurrelt recorded an
········t······•·Jx·G·····!······················ ··· .. 1·
Fig. 8 Roman sites in Dartford.
0 0 . 5km
·f."' .
\ ·y, t
(The general alignment of Watling Street is shown; its precise course
through central Dartford is not known. Cemetery sites are underlined.)
117
PAUL HUTCH1NGS
area of plain, red tesserae at the corner of Lowfield Street and the
High Street, and foundations of a Roman building further to the east,
close to the church in High Street (Spurrell 1889, 3 I 2). Dale provided
details of late Iron Age and Roman ceramics, predominantly of firstand
second-century date, found close to the Roman building identified
by Spurrell (Dale 1971). The Dartford Roman villa site was excavated
by the Dartford District Archaeological Group in 1979. Alec
Detsicas summarised the various discoveries in Dartford, and noted
that 'though this evidence is sketchy and much of it awaits full publication,
it nevertheless points to a settlement at or close to the crossing
of the Darent, and it is not improbable that it developed near the
spot where Watling Street crossed the river' (Detsicas 1983, 80).
Roman cemeteries at Dartford are known at East Hill, and to the
north at Joyce Green and Temple Hill (Payne 1897; Leyland 1990;
Spurrell 1889, 312; Tester 1956). From the Beadle's excavations it
now appears that another cemetery relating to this early Roman
settlement lay to the west of the river and to the south of Watling
Street.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The fieldwork was undertaken to a specification prepared by Kent
County Council Heritage Conservation Group on behalf of Sainsbury'
s Limited. Tbe author would like extend thanks to the managing
agents for Sainsbury's (Gregory Dengate Limited) and the staff of
Beadle's for their help and assistance.
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