Monument MPM258 - Bronze Age inhumation burial, Southwick Hill Crossroads

Bronze Age Wessex Culture inhumation burial of a young woman found at Southwick Hill Crossroads in 1972. An incense cup and simple vessel were buried in the grave. A triangular pit containing the base of a Bronze/Iron Age vessel was observed to the north of the grave.

A Bronze Age inhumation burial of a young woman was excavated by Portsmouth Museum Service at Southwick Hill Crossroads in 1972. The skeleton was lying on its right side in a semi-flexed position facing north-west. The grave, which had been cut into the chalk, had an irregular outline and was found very close to the ground surface. Its southern end had been cut by a 19th century gulley, which had destroyed most of the skeletal remains below the waist. The remaining bones suggested that one arm was bent towards the chest and that the legs may also have been bent. However, the poor state of preservation of the remains meant that it was not possible to confirm this. The skeletal remains were radiocarbon dated to c1325BC.

Two vessels had been buried in the grave opposite the skeletons forehead, an incense cup and a small simple cup. The incense cup was double-ended (i.e. hour-glass shape) and had been made from a lightly grog tempered fabric. The surface had been decorated with encircling lines of a twisted cord impression, and circular impressions (c.3mm in diameter) made by a stamp, probably a bird bone. The cup measured 61mm high, with a maximum diameter of 67mm and minimum waist diameter of 50mm. The smaller vessel was in the form of a simple urn or food vessel.

The base of a shallow triangular pit was revealed to the north of the grave. This feature contained the truncated base of a handmade pot, possibly Bronze Age or Iron Age in date.

The burial is thought to belong to the Wessex Culture. The radiocarbon date of c1325BC would suggest that it is of a slightly later date than other recorded burials of this type.

Although discovered close to the ground surface, it is likely that the burial was originally interred beneath a round barrow which has since been destroyed. A number of round barrows were recorded on Portsdown Hill by Grinsell in the late 1930s, including one in the immediate area of the Southwick Hill Crossroads site. Two additional burials, including a Bronze Age Wessex Culture cremation burial, found at Southwick Crossroads in 1948 (see MPM230 and MPM1084), suggest that the site may originally have been used as a small barrow cemetery. However, no traces of a barrow have been revealed during excavations at the site.

The 1972 excavation also found evidence of probable Early Iron Age agricultural activity (see MPM1686).

Accession No. 1972/541


[1, p.9] [2]

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An inhumation set in a shallow pit in chalk was discovered in 1972 by David Rudkin of Portsmouth Museums at Southwick Hill Crossroads. Half of the skeleton was missing due to levelling in the 18-20th centuries. The remaining bones were in a flexed position on their right hand side facing north. With the remains were two vessels which were found at the forehead:

1. Double ended drinking cup. Piggots vase support type with twisted thong and pointilee decoration.
2. A small crude bucket shaped cup.

[3]

Accession number 1972/541

Rudkin, David J, 1989, Excavations at Southwick Hill Crossroads, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Volume 45 1989, p.5-12 (Bibliographic reference). SPM587.

<1> Stapleton B & Thomas, J eds, 1989, The Portsmouth Region (Bibliographic reference). SPM329.

<2> Portsmouth Museum Service, 1972?, Southwick Hill Crossroads, 1972 (Excavation archive). SPM331.

<3> Portsmouth City Council, n/a, Portsmouth City SMR Cards, SU60NW44 (Index). SPM1.