Case Studies:Case study 16

SASSA Home Page &#8658; Case Studies Home Page &#8658; Bronze Age cairn at Carneddau

Case study 16: Bronze Age cairn at Carneddau, Powys, Wales – investigation of old ground surface and cremation fills through complementary phosphate and magnetic susceptibility analyses
Dr. John Crowther, Director of Archaeological Services at the University of Wales, Lampeter

Copyright: Author

Magnetic susceptibility analyses on an extensive charcoal spread beneath a cairn provided evidence of localised burning close to and extending south east of a known hearth. It would seem that the charcoal was not the product of extensive in situ burning, but resulted from the possible deliberate spread of charcoal from specific locations perhaps associated with cremation activity on the site.

Phosphate and magnetic susceptibility analyses in cremation pits show a fill below the cremation deposit to be enriched in phosphate with strongly enhanced magnetic susceptibility. This indicates that it is associated with cremation and likely derived from scrapings of soils from the ground surface on which the cremation took place.

Keywords: Phosphate analysis, magnetic susceptibility, Bronze Age, cairn, cremation deposits

Click on the link below to open a pdf with a more detailed summary of this project.

[[media:Case study 16.pdf|Bronze Age cairn at Carneddau]]

This case study is from the University of Wales Lampeter Archaeological Services website http://www.lamp.ac.uk/uwlas/soil_sediment.html#Carneddau

 &larr; Back to Case studies home page