Humbledon Hill, cremation
Humbledon Hill, cremation
HER Number
7
District
Sunderland
Site Name
Humbledon Hill, cremation
Place
Sunderland
Map Sheet
NZ35NE
Class
Religious Ritual and Funerary
Site Type: Broad
Burial
Site Type: Specific
Cremation Burial
General Period
PREHISTORIC
Specific Period
Bronze Age -2,600 to -700
Form of Evidence
Find
Description
In 1873, during the construction of the Humbledon Hill High Reservoir on the summit of the hill, a barrow was removed and several burials discovered, three in cremation urns (two inverted). The urns, two of which survive, are described as of 'food vessel' type and decorated with incised chevrons, herringbone and zig-zag patterns. A geophysical survey of the surrounding hill in 2001 revealed the probable remains of ditches and/or a palisade trench enclosing the hilltop summit with a possible entrance to the west. Other gullies and ditches are also present. These features are typical of prehistoric enclosures or fortifications but have not been investigated by excavation.
Easting
438020
Northing
555240
Grid Reference
NZ438020555240
Sources
<< HER 7 >> G.B. Gibbs, 1912, Early History of the Water Supplies of Sunderland and South Shields, Antiquities of Sunderland, Vol. XII (for 1911), p. 3
Transactions Natural History Society Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle, 1877, Note on Cinerary Vases found at Humbledon Hill, near Sunderland, Vol. V (for 1873-6), p. 97
W. Greenwell, 1877, British Barrows, pp. 440-1
Transactions Architectectural & Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, 1890, A Prae-Historic Cist Burial at Sacriston, Vol. III (for 1880-89), p. 184
Archaeologia Aeliana, C.T. Trechmann, 1914, Prehistoric Burials in the County of Durham, 3, XI, pp. 120-1, 137
R. Miket, 1984, The Prehistory of Tyne and Wear, pp. 60-61, no. 4.1
R. Young, 1980, Transactions Architectectural & Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland An Inventory of Barrows in Co. Durham, New series, Vol. 5, p. 12
W. Page, ed. 1905, Early Man, Victoria County History, Durham, Vol. I, p. 208
Geoquest 2000, An Archaeological Assessment for ... Humbledon Hill, Sunderland
Transactions Natural History Society Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle, 1877, Note on Cinerary Vases found at Humbledon Hill, near Sunderland, Vol. V (for 1873-6), p. 97
W. Greenwell, 1877, British Barrows, pp. 440-1
Transactions Architectectural & Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, 1890, A Prae-Historic Cist Burial at Sacriston, Vol. III (for 1880-89), p. 184
Archaeologia Aeliana, C.T. Trechmann, 1914, Prehistoric Burials in the County of Durham, 3, XI, pp. 120-1, 137
R. Miket, 1984, The Prehistory of Tyne and Wear, pp. 60-61, no. 4.1
R. Young, 1980, Transactions Architectectural & Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland An Inventory of Barrows in Co. Durham, New series, Vol. 5, p. 12
W. Page, ed. 1905, Early Man, Victoria County History, Durham, Vol. I, p. 208
Geoquest 2000, An Archaeological Assessment for ... Humbledon Hill, Sunderland