Excavations at Fordcroft, Orpington

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(/aca:z), 89 EXCAVAT1ONS AT FORDOROFT, ORPINGTON CoNOLUDING REPORT By P. J. TESTER, F.S.A. THE first part of this report continues the description of the Anglo. Saxon cemewry at Orpington published in the last volume of Arch. Gant., l:x:x:x:iii (1968), 125-50, and deals particularly with the discoveries made in the two seasons 1967-68. In Part II the Romano-British features occurring on the same site as the Anglo-Saxon burials are described, and details of the pottery, coins and other finds of Roman age are provided in appendices. At present no further opportunities for excavation are available as digging has been exiiended as far as the roads forming the north and south limits of the site, and also to the houses on the east and west. AOKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following have given sustained help with the digging during 1967-68: Mesdames M. Bowen, B.A., E. D.·H art, A. E. Highland, E. Jones, A. Taylor (nee Robinson), R. M. Tester, B.A., E. Whitehorn and M. Woosnam; Misses C. Brown and J. Catton; Messrs. M. Aka.m, A. C. Hart, D. T. Jones, D. C. Lyne, R. M. Lyne, J. Taylor, R.H. C. -Taylor, K. P. Whitehorn, B.A., and J. Woosnam, LL.B: Mr. A. C. Hart has drawn the objects for Figs. 3-5 and 9-13, and made the photographic record of the excavation. The following have supplied reports on the iiextiles, samian ware, buckle from Grave ·51, glass, Roman brooches and figurine, -respectively: Miss E. Crowfoot, Mr. A. P. Detsicas, M.A., F.S.A., V. I. Evison, B.A., F.S.A., Dr. D. B. Harden, Mr. M. R. Hull, M.A., F.S.A., and Mr. F. Jenkins, M.A., F.S.A. Mr. B. D. Glynn, B.D.S., L.D.S., has examined several skulls and given an estimation of individual age based on their dental condition. The British and Guildhall Museums have reported on the coins, and the Institute of Geological Sciences on the material of the querns and stone mortars. To all these the writer expresses grateful aclmowledgement for the assistance given. PART I DESORIPTJON OF ANGLO-SAXON BURIALS 46-71 'fhe burials traced in 1967-68 have been fewer than those revealed in the first two seasons' digging. It :was fo®d that many had been !·19 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON partly destroyed or disturbed by modern intrusions such as sewertrenches and air-raid shelters from the Second World War. These disturbances were particularly evident in the south-east comer where a brick cellar was also found to occupy a large area. In spite of these difficulties, three cremations and twenty-two inhumations have been iliscovered, the details of which are set out below. An absence of burials in the relatively undisturbed south-west corner of the site indicates that the probable limits of the cemetery have been reached in that direction. The total number of burials traced in the four seasons is nineteen cremations and fifty-two inhumations. 46. Cremation burial. Small black pot containing burnt bones, apparently inserted at the edge of Grave 22 {Fig. 2). 47. Skeleton of adult, age and sex undetermined. Height about 5 ft. 6 in. Legs crossed. Bones poorly preserved. (a) Iron buckle, without attachment-plate, at waist. 48. Skeleton of adult, lying on left side with remains of leg bones indicating a contracted position. Poorly preserved and incomplete. No grave goods. 49. Skull only, the rest of the skeleton having been destroyed by modern disturbance. No grave goods. 50. Cremation burial. Very incomplete pot associated with burnt bones. Brown ware, in shape probably rather like no. 52 (Fig. 2) though slightly larger. Diameter at bulge about 9 in. 51. Skeleton of woman in late thirties or early forties. Height approximately 5 ft. Right forearm across body with hand resting on beltbuckle. Depth of grave 2 fi. Upper filling consisted of quantity of flint nodules (cf. Grave 26). (a.) Bronze buckle with silver inlaid attachment-plate (Fig. 3), at waist, tongue pointing left. Miss V. I. Evison has kindly provided the following note: 'The buckle from Grave 51, Orpington, bears a very close resemblance to two other buckles in form, construction, technique, layout and details of design, one having recently been found at Bishopstone in Sussex, Grave 12, and one being an old find from Mitcham, Surrey, Grave 133.1 The construction of this group is unusual in that the loop and plate are cast in one, and the tongue swivels on a pin contained in a tubular part of the casting. The three loops all have points in common, and all three plates have a pair of circles as the main design. On the Orpington and Mitcham plates the circles were inla,id with silver strips, and the loops, too, 1 These are included in e. more general discussion by V. I. Evison in 'Quoit Brooch Style Buckles', Antiq. Journ., xlviti (1968), 231-49, fig. 2 and pl. lv. The excavation at Bishopstone is by Mr. David Thomson. 40 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFI', ORPINGTON sea ,...__ ____ _ 60a 71a Fxo, 2. Anglo-Saxon Pottery and Spearheads from the Orpington Cemetery (¼), 41 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON were probably also inlaid with silver. There is no trace of inlay on the Bishopstone buckle, but one circle contains a rosette as on the Orpington plate, and the other circle contains the 0-spirals and. triangular stamps which occur in the intervening spaces on the Orpington plate. The decoration on the :Mitcham plate is carried out in openwork and triangular stamps: 'As well as being closely connected with each other, these buckles clearly belong to the Quoit Brooch Style school2 by reason of the designs and inlay technique.· These characteristics also bind them closely to the magnificent buckle and plates recently found in Grave 117 at Mucking, Esse;x:.s All these four buckles must have been made in this country, but the form and details of the Mucking belt equipment bring home with more emphasis how very close these products are to the buckles of late-Roman type4 found on the Continent as well as here. The date of fifth century for the Quoit Brooch Style school is therefore assured, and it is even probable that some of the objects were made in the first half of the century. 'The Orpington buckle may have been fairly old when buried, however, for it has been mended in two places. The end of the plate was probably damaged, for i t has been cut off straight across and through the design, and a half-hearted attempt made at producing a moulded tubular rim. Further, an iron tongue replaces the original tongue which must have been of bronze with lateral wings to engage with the horns of the loop as on the High Down buckle. '5 (b) Bronze disa-broock, on front of left shoulder (Fig. 3). (c} Discoidal amber bea,d, lying at back of skull (Fig. 3). (d) Smali Roman bronze coin, by left hand. Very corroded but probably a third-century radiate. May not have been deliberately placed in the grave, but chanced to be in the back-fill. 52. Cremation burial. Grey pot with globular body 􀃷d small neck. Base crushed but contents of burnt bones intact. Dr. J. N. L. Myres likens it to Anglian globular pots which are common in Schleschwig, and notes that it is likely to be earlier than A.D. 500 (Fig. 2). 53. Leg bones of skeleton only. Upper part of grave destroyed by modern disturbance. No grave goods. 54. Skull only. Remainder of skeleton entirely decomposed. No grave goods. 2 V. I. Evison, Fifth-Century Irwcun()fl,8 South of the Th,ames (1965), 46-78. 3 Antiq. Joum., xlviii (1968}, pl. liii. The excavations at Mucking are directed by Mrs. M. U. Jones. 4 V. I. Evison, op. cit. (1965), pl. 9, a. · 6 Ibid., pl. 16, o. 42 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDOROFT, ORPINGTON 51a 51b 51c FIG, 3. Objects from Grave 51 (½). 43 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON 55. Leg bones of skeleton only. Upper part of grave destroyed by same disturbance as that affecting 53. No grave goods. 56. Skeleton, probably of female in early thirties. Height approximately 5 ft. or over. Lying across line of filled Roman ditch. No grave goods. 57. Skeleton, poorly preserved. Height approximately 4 ft. 10 in. No grave goods. 58. (Plate I) Skeleton of woman in early twenties, lying on left side with arms raised and bent at elbows, the left hand being about 6 in. in front of face. Knees slightly raised to left. (a) Pot of grey ware, with incised linear decoration and circular dimples (Fig. 2). Placed in grave close to back of skull. No signs of burnt bones in the contents, so vessel was not related to a separate cremation, but formed part of the grave goods of No. 58. Dr. Myres comments that this pot is of a very early Continental type which occurs quite early in the fifth century. He adds: 'It is a perfect example of a type, purely Continental in character, which can be paralleled in German cemeteries like W ehden and Altenwalde in the decades around 400. Indeed, there are very few in this country anything like so good as examples of this early Saxon form.' It is puzzling, therefore, to find in the same grave two disc-brooches which (as Dr. Myres accepts) one would not expect to be much earlier than the early part of the sixth century. The question of whether the pot and the brooches were really associated ·with the same burial, notwithstanding their separation by only 9 in. in the soil, has been very carefully considered and the excavator can only record that from observations made at the time of the discovery, checked against field-drawings and photographs of the material in 8itu, he has no hesitation in accepting that they belonged together. (b) Fifty-three beads, scattered in front of the upper part of the body.6 These can be divided into ten types, one of each being represented in order, top to bottom, in Fig. 4. (i) Two beads of whitish body with blue spots and lines. (ii) One bead of black glass with irregular white band around it. (iii) Five of opaque black glass, with large perforation ( quoitshaped). (iv) Two small black glass beads. (v) Thirteen of blue glass. (vi) Fourteen of translucent blue glass, quoit-shaped. (vii) Three similar to last but with smaller perforation. G In the photograph (Pfo.te I) the positions of the beads are shown by matches set upright in the bottom of the grave to serve as markers. 44 PLATE I Photo: A. C. Hart Grave 58. (face p. 44 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON 􀀈{Im = 0 58c 􀀃--􀀄 􀀂 V 1=􀀄0 58d ,-=o 58b 61a 63a FIG. 4. Objects from Graves 58, 61 and 03 {g). 46 58e tl.C.H. lqb'/ EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON (viii) Six of paste or clay: one red, one brown, one yellow, one green, two dark grey. Small perforations. (ix) Six of paste or clay: one red, two brown, one green, one blue, one dull orange-brown. Small perforation. (x) One of dumb-bell shape: blue glass. (c} Two bronze tubes (one illustrated, Fig. 4) of identical shape and size. Found in association with the beads and . possibly strung with them as 'spacers'. Traces of tin or silver coating. (d) Two bronze disc-brooches of identical form (one only illustrated (Fig. 4). Both lying at throat. Decoration of punched triangles retaining traces of tin or silver. Remains of iron pin. Very similar to brooch from Grave 4. Cf. Arch-. Gant., x (1876), 302, from Bifrons. Probably c. A.D. 500. (e) Iron buckle, very corroded, at waist. Similar in form to 3e and 4le figured in last report (Fig. 4). (/) Knife, lying near buckle (Fig. 4). (g) Roman bronze coin, lying near femur. Mid-fourth-century FEL. TEMP. REP. type, very corroded. It may not be more than a stray in the grave-fill. 59. Skeleton of adult in early thirties, sex undetermined. Height approximately 5 ft. (a) Knife, length 4· 3 in. 60. Skeleton in fragmentary condition. Shallow grave. (a) Decorated pot of buclcelurne type, placed by skull (Fig. 2). Black on lower part of body, merging to reddish-brown above. Five bosses around body, pressed out from inside. Each boss flanked by raised strip on either side, bearing oblique incisions. One boss has row of ring-and-dot decoration on each side, with parallel row bordering outer edge of each flanking strip . .Another boss has similar treatment except that the ring-and-dot is replaced by triangular stamps identical with those encircling the ba.se of neck. Two inscribed lines around neck with encircling band of ring-and-dot above. The triangles and the ring-and-dot stamps are the only ones used. Each triangle is filled with closely-set vertical and horizontal lines to form grid pattern. There are no stamps on three of the bosses. The base of the vessel is irregular as though the outer layer has flaked off, and it is not impossible that there was odginally a pedestal foot. The pot contained no trace of burnt bones and was clearly associated with Grave 60. 61. Fragment of skull and leg bones only. (a) Iron buckle near centre of body (Fig. 4). (b) Knife, on left side, length 6·4 in. Part of iron ring, diameter l ·5 in., adh􀃑ring. 46 EXCAVATIONS' AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON' 62. Skull, encroaching on area. of 60. Remainder consisted only of leg bones. Head to the north. No grave goods. 63. Skeleton of adult. Height approximately 5 ft. 6 in. or over. Legs drawn up slightly to left. Middle of grave destroyed by modern sewer-trench. (a) Iron buckle. Attachment-plate rectangular in front and triangular on back. Disturbed in grave (Fig. 4). 64. Traces of skeleton, very decomposed, head apparently to south. Lower part of grave disturbed. (a) Two rectangular bronze plates, with rivets projecting on under sides. Found 8 in. apart at centre of grave. Probably they were belt-attachments. The upper face is divided lengthwise by two deep parallel channels in which are shall°'v round depressions (Fig. 5). 65. Fragment of skull and arm bones only. Head to the ·east. All lower part of grave destroyed by modern disturbance. (a) Bronze disc-brooch, with traces of tin or silver coating (Fig. 5), lying at throat. 66. Leg bones and feet only of skeleton in contracted position, lying on left side with knees drawn up to left. Upper part of grave destroyed by 67. No grave goods. 67. Legs of skeleton with fragments of. left arm only. Remainder destroyed by modern sewer-trench. (a) Bronze cl,asp, with part _of iron ring attached by corrosion (Fig. 5). Against the triangular loop was-􀃫 thin perforated bronze washer. It fa thought from its position in the grave that the clasp secured a waist-belt, to one end of which it was fastened by means of the triangular loop, while the iron ring was attached to the other end and was passed over the clasp when the belt was in position. When fastened in this way the ring would have lain in the opposite direction to that shown in the accompanying reconstructed figure. The detail of this drawing is, however, based on a short remaining fragment of the iron ring found in position, firmly attached to the bronze clasp. The shield-shaped plate of the clasp has four recessed triangles in line on its upper part, in which traces of green enamel are just visible. The four circular cavities below have similar faint traces of red filling. This clasp is obviously Celtic and not Germanic in style, and Miss V. I. Evison has remarked that objects of this type have occurred on Roman sites such as Richborough7 and Wroxeter.s As there is no reason to suppose that the Orpington burial was otherwise 1 Richborough, ii, 47 and pl. xx, 38. 8 Wroo:eter, iii (1916), pl. xvi, 15. 47 64a I I I 67a '----- -" 68a FIG. 5. Objects from Graves 64, 65, 67 and 68 (U. 48 I 68b a.c.+r. 1969 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON than Anglo-Saxon, one must assume that the clasp is another example of a re-used Roman object (cf. Graves 32, 35 and 39). 68. Skeleton of adult in early twenties. Probably female though structure of skull rather heavy. Height approximately 5 ft. or over. Hands on pelvis. (a) and (b) Pair of bronze applied saucer-brooches, very poorly . preserved, one worn on each shoulder (Fig. 5). Remains of the dished circular backplate have survived in each instance, but the thin applied front plates with repousse decoration had unfortunately disintegrated except for a few fragments. These are, however, sufficient to indicate the general type of the design which consisted of a double line of beading round the lip of the saucer bordering a disarticulated guilloche or plait . .An uncertain number of stylized faces encircled a central motif-probably star-shaped round a boss-the whole being similar to the brooch from Fairford (Glos.) figured by E. T. Leeds.9 Others have come from Reading and Kempston.10 Miss Evison has discussed the origin and significance of these broochesn and shown that lihe faces are debased lion masks which, like the guiUoche on the Orpington and Fairford brooches, are of Roman derivation. (c) Large glass 'melon' bead, found close to left side of skull. Shattered and incomplete, but enough remains to make possible the reconstruction shown in Fig. 5. Greenish glass with traces of red and yellow stripes, too fragmentary for full reconstruoti.on of pattern. 69. Skeleton, probably of woman in late twenties, lying on left side with right arm bent at elbow and hand raised in front of chest. Knees slightly raised to left. (a) Small blue glass bead, one-tenth inch diameter. (b) Fragment of larger greenish gla.ss bead with white surface, of doubtful association. 70. Fragments of shattered skull indicating a burial of which all other remains had been destroyed by digging modern sewer-trench. 71. Skull and spearhead (Fig. 2, no. 71a), found together some depth below concrete garage floor by occupier of house adjoining the east side of the site. This discovery wa.s made during the course of structural alterations in 1966, and these finds indicate that the cemetery continues under the existing buildings on that side of the area so far excavated. 9 E. T. Leeds, The .Archceology of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements (1913), 60. 10 G. Baldwin Brown, The Arts in Early England (1915), pl. lviii, 5, and xlvii. n V. I. Evison, op. cit., 69-70. 49 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFI', ORPINGTON UNAssoOIATED Fmns The three objects described under this heading may be tentatively accepted as indicating two cremations and an inhumation additional to the 71 burials identified with certainty. They were not, however, found in close association with either cremated remains or traces of inhumation burials. Fig. 2, A. Two decorated sherds of hard gritty grey ware, obviously from the same vessel though not actually joining. Found in upper levels near 15 but not related to it. Figured with conjectural outline of the form of vessel to which the sherds seem to belong. The clue to the reconstruction is a vessel from Northfl.eet, now in Maidstone Museum, and illustrated in R. F. Jessup's Archreology of Kent (1930), 231. Around the body were a number of vertical elongated bosses ornamented with oblique incisions. These were bordered by lines of ring and ring-and-dot decoration. Around the neck were parallel horizontal grooves and a band of rosette stamps. Insufficient remains to allow the general proportions of the vessel to be gauged accurately. Most likely this was a cremation urn which was broken and the contents scattered by modern ploughing. Fig. 2, B. Several sherds of a brownish pot of poor chaff-tempered ware, found near no. 14. It had evidently been broken in AngloSaxon times as two sherds occurred in the lower filling of Grave 25. The vessel is a crude 'home-made' imitation of a stamped urn and was no doubt intended to contain a cremation. Round the upper part of the body are shield-shaped panels defined by an incised line, within which three vertical rows of circular depressions were made in imitation of the usual stamps. Fig. 2, C. Iron spearhead, found in disturbed upper levels. Assumed to be Anglo-Saxon and to have come from a destroyed inhumation burial on the east side of the site. TEXTILES By ELISABETH CROWFOOT There are no very fine textiles preserved from the cemetery at Orpington, but both spinning and weaving in the five fragments that have survived are of good quality, and the types of weave typical of Anglo-Saxon domestic work. They include two plain weaves and three twills-2/2 diagonal twill in two qualities and a broken diamond twill. Unfortunately, all the fibres have been replaced by contact with the metal objects which have preserved them and oannot be determined. However, the coarser 2/2 twill (Grave 36) and the broken diamond (Grave 3) must have been of wool, and from their position, on shield- 50 EXCAVATIONS AT FORDCROFT, ORPINGTON grips in two men's graves, should come from the warm cloaks or tunics they were buried in. The third twill, a finer 2/2 (Grave 39) looks much more like a flax fibre, though its position at a woman's waist, perhaps part of her gown, must suggest wool also as a possibility. The appearance, spinning and even counts in warp and weft of the two plain weaves make it fairly certain that these were of flax. They are preserved on brooches from two women's graves (44, 58), and the number of tight folds of the material bunched together and caught by the brooch pins indicates that they were used to fasten large pieces of soft linen, rather than close the neck of a garment. It has been suggested that in some Anglo-Saxon women's graves shrouds were used, but perhaps the evidence points rather to the women's linen head-veils or shawls having been draped round their bodies and pinned on the shoulders or breast by a pair of brooches. The broken diamond-Le. a diamond or lozenge with a displaced meeting at the centre-of the twill from Grave 3 (Fig. 6) seems to be 􀅞 􀅟i􀅠 I􀅡½ ji 􀅢􀅣l zl􀅤 􀀆􀀇 Y, i􀅥z 􀀂i 􀀃􀀄􀀅 r.i i z li7. 􀅦􀅧a ;i 􀀂i¼ 􀀂􀀃¼ 􀀂􀀃l Zr. l? r-ii7,iih *2,: ,2,:􀀒 1-=-z aP􀅨􀅩·􀅪 ,,.l