Sancton I Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Excavations Carried Out Between 1976 and 1980

This report outlines the results of excavations carried out at Sancton I (Humberside, formerly East Riding, Yorkshire), the most northerly of a group of large, well-known Anglo-Saxon cremation cemeteries in eastern England. The excavations, undertaken by N. M. Reynolds1 for the then Department of Environment (now English Heritage), between 1976–80, were designed to assess damage to the site by ploughing and to try to determine the extent and limits of the cemetery. The former objective was achieved all too clearly in that the area of the cemetery investigated had been severely affected by soil disturbances. Many of the cremations had either been totally destroyed or badly damaged. In all, c. 90–95 in situ cremations were recorded and one inhumation. Despite the drawbacks the analysis of the material recovered, particularly the human and animal bone, has provided valuable information about the site which shows some remarkable similarities to the roughly contemporary cremation cemetery at Spong Hill, Norfolk.