Land at 12 Guildown Avenue, Guildford

Archaeological monitoring of soil stripping by L Lewins of TVAS revealed seven graves containing the remains of at least ten individuals. A minimum of two phases of burial were identified, characterised by those displaying an expected burial form for furnished early medieval burials, and later non-normative graves. Recovered artefacts and radiocarbon dating indicates that this part of the Guildown cemetery was in use over an extended period of time spanning the 6th to 11th centuries AD. The majority of skeletons were buried in supine and extended positions. The exception to this was a semi-articulated burial (or reburial) of an adult male (SK65) in a double grave with a younger adult male. The work also identified the probable prior removal of two skeletons, possibly during excavations by A W G Lowther in the 1920s. Osteological analysis of the earliest graves revealed a mixed group including male and female burials while the later phase of burials consisted solely of adult men who died between early adulthood (18--25 years) and 36--45 years of age. No evidence of execution was observed. Oxygen Isotope analysis of three of the later graves suggests those buried were not local to the area.
Year: 
2016
ID: 
2725
NGR: 
SU988488
Periods: 
Borough: