An early Bronze Age log-coffin burial from Tetney, Lincolnshire

Abstract

In July 2018, during groundworks at Tetney Golf Course, an unscheduled round barrow was flattened by a mechanical digger, which also scattered the remains of the primary burial consisting of a single individual interred in an oak log-coffin. As a response, the University of Sheffield undertook a rescue excavation to record the remains of the disturbed barrow and recover further artefactual remains and environmental samples from within the broken coffin. Analysis of the remains shows that the individual buried in the coffin was a robust male in his 30s, and strontium and oxygen isotope analysis indicate that he did not grow up in the immediate vicinity. Very partial remains of a second individual were also recovered; these appear to have formed part of a later interment within the barrow which was entirely removed by the mechanical digger. The coffin is formed from a substantial split and hollowed oak log, which has chiselled grooves at either end, still retaining fragments of a securing rope. Dendrochronology and 14C wiggle-matching reveal that the oak was felled in 2032BC and conforms to a well-established Early Bronze Age burial pattern. Plant macrofossils and pollen from within the coffin indicate that the individual was provided with organic bedding and pillow, possibly garlanded and accompanied by other plant offerings.