Further Burials in the Guildown Saxon Cemetery at Guildford, Surrey (Paperback)

A small archaeological excavation explored a new area of the well-known Saxon cemetery, west of Guildford town centre, known as the Guildown 'execution cemetery'. Over 200 burials had been excavated in the early 20th centaury, and the cemetery was already regarded as unusual, yet the application of modern techniques of osteological and isotope analysis has added new components to this intriguing site. Seven graves were exposed, containing the remains of a minimum of 10 individuals. Two phases of burial have been identified, characterized by those displaying the expected furnished early medieval inhumations, and later, non-normative graves. Artefacts and radiocarbon dating indicate an extended period of use, spanning the 6th to 11th centuries AD. The majority of inhumations were buried in supine and extended positions. The exception to this was the unusual inclusion of a semi-disarticulated secondary burial (re burial) of an adult man into a double grave with a younger adult male. Additional in expected observations included the likely prior removal of two skeletons, possibly during previous investigations in the 1920s. Osteological analysis revealed the earliest graves contained a mixed group, including an adolescent and a woman. The later phase of burial comprised solely adult men. No evidence of execution was observed. Isotopic analysis of three men from the later graves suggests that they were not locals.