| Popis: |
As the result of a proviso on the Diocesan faculty for improvement works at St Katherine's Church, Sacombe, Hertfordshire, the Heritage Network was commissioned by the PCC to undertake a programme of archaeological monitoring during groundworks. The groundworks consisted of the excavation of a drain running 5m south from the southeast corner of the church tower, and joining a soakaway pit measuring 1.2m in diameter and 1.2m in depth. The works revealed a sequence of chalk bedrock overlain by 0.50m of greyish brown sandy silt graveyard soil with frequent chalk fragments, sealed below a 0.20m thick layer of topsoil and turf. A quantity of human bone was recovered from the graveyard soil, including fragments of three skulls, 26 fragments of long bone, fragments of rib, vertebrae, pelvis and scapula, as well as numerous small fragments that could not be identified. A brief assessment showed that all the identified bones were from adults and that the skulls represented two females and one possible male. It was not possible to identify any of the long bone fragments suggesting that the material formed disarticulated remains from several individuals. Photographs were taken of the best preserved and most identifiable bones. The bone was retained on site for re-burial. |
