Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 121 (1991), 175-180, fiche 4:A-B8

Burials at Winton House, Cockenzie and Port Seton, East Magnar Dalland* wit contributioha Daphny nb e Home Lorimer

ABSTRACT Describes an Iron Age cemetery containing inhumation burials of different types.

INTRODUCTION In 1988 six burials were discovered during construction work in the grounds of Winton House, Cockenzie and Port Seton (NGR NT 4024 7562, illus 1). The building contractors had stripped by machine an area 20 x 65 m along the north garden wall in preparation for the foundations of 16 houses. The burials were disturbed while digging the foundation trenches for the northwesternmost house. The contractors had collected the bones exposed in the trench, some of which had been lying in a stone cist partly damaged by the mechanical excavator. Excavation was arranged and sponsored by Historic . Cleanin e areth af o gwithi e foundatioth n n trench revealed seven feature t intcu so natural largeA . , L-shaped, moderlocates wa t dnpi roughl centree th e remaininn yi Th . x gsi features contained variable amount f humaso n bon werd ean e interprete burialss da .

THE GRAVES (illus 2) All the graves were cut into a subsoil of ancient beach sediments rich in calcium, which accounts for the relatively good preservation of the bones. However, all the burials had been disturbed, some in the past, others by the recent construction work. The graves were all shallow t lescu ,s int m sandthae o5 th n0. y subsoil, whic explaiy capstoneo n hma y nwh s were found. Nevertheless, sufficient survive o shodt w variation construction si n techniqued an s orientation of the graves. The six graves have been divided into three categories: (A) cists made from upright slabs roun) (B ;) coursed(c pitsd an d; stone cist.

GROU : CISTPA S MADE FROM UPRIGHT SANDSTONE SLABS graveo Tw s belon thio gt 6 s B group & 2 B : Burial comprise2 stonda e cist aligned north/south f whico e nort beed th ,d hha hen n remove mechanicaa y db l excavator e survivinTh . e cisg th part f consisteo t f eighdo t stone slabs each 0.2-0.5 m long, set on edge. The base of the cut measured 1.1 x 0.7 m and the cist additionad an t pi e deep lm th slab e waslab f 5 beed o Th s.0. t insidt ssha nse linecu e e eth d th south-ease cistth t a , t corne south-wesd an r t skewe s f cis sideo soute wa t d Th . hden towards

* AOC (Scotland) Ltd, The Schoolhouse, 4 Lochend Road, I SOCIET 6 17 ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1991

WINTON HOUSE COCKENZI PORD EAN T SETON

North Berwick

Winton House EDINBURGH Cockenzie and Port Seton

10 kilometres ILUJS 1 Location of site

south-wese th t reflectin positioe gth skeletone th f no . Some bone beed sha n removee th y db building contractor e righth t e almosskeletof t bu th o shal l f o al ft n remaine situ.n de i Th skeleto femala s tha f nwa o t e aged 17-24 ) talle ,bod in aboubeed Th . 2 yha t nf t 5 1.5( 7m placed on its right side, facing west. The legs were flexed (above 30°) at the hips, and fully kneese flexe th e skul t beed a dTh . ha l n displace buildere remainine th th y t db sbu g bonef so the right half of the body indicate that the burial had not previously been disturbed. Burial6 was badly disturbed by the foundation trench. The cut was oval in shape, aligned north/south, and measured 1 x 0.6 m. Only the west side of the cist survived, in the form of a stone slab, 0.8 m long, set on edge, which partly overlapped with a 0.3 m long slab at the south ende gravTh . e containe e disturbeth d d remainskeletonso tw f o s a n adul a d , an t DALLAND: BURIAL WINTOT SA N HOUSE, COCKENZI PORD EAN T SETON, EAST LOTHIAN 177

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10 1 metre upper edg uprighf eo t stone ILLUS 2 Plan of excavated features juvenile femala adule s Th . wa t e aged 17-2 tall ) chile abou d 2^-s in 5Th .an 2 d wa 3t tf 1.55 ( 7m years old.

GROUP B: ROUND PITS Three burials fall into this category. B5 :& Bl4 B , Burial 1 had been partly removed by machine; the disturbed soil in the adjacent trench contained several bones whic probabld hha y been displace clearls dburiae wa fro Th t y. mpi lit visible in the south section of the trench but its exact outline elsewhere was indistinct owing to root disturbance. Only the bottom 0.2 m of the cut survived to the south of the foundation trench. It measure north/south m east/wes m 7 d1 0. d an t . More bones were found during excavation, including several displaced ribs lying on a stone slab at the bottom of the pit, implying that the base of the grave had been flagged. These displaced bones indicate that the burial had also been disturbed in antiquity. The grave contained skeletal remains of two individuals, an adult female 18-25 years old, 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) tall, and a juvenile of about 10 years old. 178 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1991

soutm 1 Burial f buria northers ho y It la . 2 l4 n edg beed eha n disturbe modere th y db n pit. The cut was originally slightly oval, aligned east/west and measured 1.3 x 1 m. The bones had been disturbe antiquityn di : more than half were missingremainine th d an , g bonesf o wer t eou position base south-wese partd Th th .e an f so wert pi te sidlineth f eo d with sandstone slabse Th . grave contained the skeleton of a male aged 40-45 and approximately 1.83 m (6 ft) tall. eas m f buriaeasters o 3 tBurial It y . 4 la l n5 sidbeed eha n remove foundatioe th y db n diametercircularn s i buriae wa m th t r 5 contente pi l fo 1. , t Th . trench beecu d e sha n Th .badl y disturbe paste th n ;dhumai w onlfe ya n bone somd san e small stones were founcentre th n di e determined e coulx b t se aduln a dd no bonee f pite an o t th fTh .individuale e sar ag . e th t bu ,

GROUP C: COURSED STONE CIST Burial 3, located immediately east of burial 2, had an oval cut, aligned north-east/south- west t containeI , . measurinm 4 1. dcist a x g,3 t builleas coursea o f o tw t s of flat stones, which forme chambeda uppee Th . r m measurincourse(s 7 0. norte X th t 4 hcis)a d e g1. sid th ha t f eo been remove mechanicae th y db l excavato soute th t h rbu sid e survive depta o d t t 0.3f I h o . 5m consiste courseo tw f dfouf o s o r sandstone slabs each between 0.4-0. lon 80.1-0.1m d gan 5m thick addition I . recene th o nt t damage buriae th ,beed ha l n disturbe antiquityn di stonee Th . s at the east end of the cist were displaced and only an incomplete skull and bones from the left arm and leg were retrieved from the base of the cist. The skull was located at its east end, possibly indicatin originae gth l orientatio bodye th f t woulnI o . d have been flexed slightlt fi o yt into the cist. The grave contained the remains of a female 30-40 years old.

CEMETERE TH Y Althoug e graveth h s showed some variet construction i y n technique d alignmentan s , none of the burial pits cut into each other, and it seems likely that they are roughly contemporary, constituting part, or all, of a cemetery. As the excavation was restricted to the area affected by the building work, the limits of the cemetery were not located. However, futhey sigan o n therf rno s burial foundatioe wa th n si n trenche ease e soutd th th an tf o hst o site indicating that the cemetery may not have continued any further in those directions. Only buria containe6 l d sufficient materia radiocarboa r fo l n determination t produceI . d a date of 1870±70 bp (GU-2596). From the Belfast calibration curve there is a 95% probability that the date lies within the range AD 10 to AD 340 (Pearson et al 1986).

DISCUSSION The Winton House graves show striking similarities to those found at the excavations of Broxmouth Hillfort east of (Hill 1982, 179-80.) A cemetery containing nine graves was discovere norte th n hhillfore do sidth f eo t just outsid outee eth r furthea ditc d han r four graves were found withi hillforte nth gravee Th . s wer varief eo d type wit hmixtura circulaf eo ovad ran l grave pits, some stone lined and others not. None of the graves contained grave goods. The excavation locate weste dth , easnortd an t h cemetere limitth f so y (Hill 1982, 179-80). The Broxmouth graves are of similar character to 14 graves found at Dryburn Bridge, appro south-easm k x3 f Broxmoutho t , which were found durin excavatioe gth palisada f no e and circular houses (Triscott 1982, 117). Bot e Broxmoutth h d Dryburan h n graves group e radiocarboar s nx si dated e Th . DALLAND: BURIALS AT WINTON HOUSE, COCKENZIE AND PORT SETON, EAST LOTHIAN | 179

Dryburn dates see mfalo t l intmaio otw n groups; three date mose sar t likel predato yt B0 Ce40 (1000-37 t la)a C ; 5B whil postdato etw B0 Ce40 (359 t BC-Ala)e sixta 5 Th .h D22 date over- laps thes groupso e tw sevee Th . n Broxmouth date roughle sar y contemporary wit latee hth r Dryburn dates, tha , fro is e tthir mth e dfirs th centur t o centurt C . yB yAD e dateTh s from Broxmouth suggest that, despit e variationth e n gravi s e typese th , cemeter r lesprobabls fo s y wa e tha years0 us single n40 n y i Th . e date fro Wintoe mth n House cemetery is slightly later than either the Broxmouth cemetery or the Dryburn post-palisade graves probabilit% . Ther68 a s ei y thaWintoe th t n House dat 70-29s ei 0 years younger than the latest Broxmouth date. However, the similarities between the Broxmouth and Winton House cemeteries indicate that they both derive fro same mth e burial tradition which, based available th n o e dates, spans fro middle firsme th e thir th t f th milleniueo f d o d en me th B o Ct century AD.

APPENDIX 1

THE HUMAN BONES Daphne Home Lorimer A more detailed description of the human remains appears in fiche 4:A4-B8. The skeletal material from Winton House came from five, or possibly six, cist burials and wer poorn ei , fragmented condition e remainTh . s consiste complete brokeo on tw f do d nean adult skulls, fragment f juvenilo s e crania vertebraw fe a , severad ean l ribs, while long bones were mostly represente e outeth y rb de corteshaftth f .o x Unstratified bone scattes wa r identified with particular skeletons wherever possible skeletone th ; s comprise adultsx dsi 4 B . was a male about 45 at the time of death; Bl, B2 and B7 were three females between 17 and skeletoa s wa indeterminatf 5 no B femala d s an sexd wa ; e253 an .betwee40 B ; e d eag an 0 n3 Two juveniles were also present, both of whom were buried with adults: a child aged about 10 in Bl was buried with a female aged 18-25 years and a child of approximately 30-36 months was found with a female of 17-25 years in burial B6. lattee burialo Th rtw s wer t possible no disturbes burialo ascertaiwa o e t t tw i e o ds th f ni in each were simultaneous or successive. The most common type of adult and child burial is that of mother and newly born child (Ritchie & Stevenson 1982, 552) but adults and older children t Wintoa s a , n House, have also been noted t ArdifferyA . , Aberdeenshiren a , 8-10-year-old was buried with an adult male of 20-25 years (Harman 1977, 90). The skeletons were gracile and the bone dimensions small. The length of broken long bones had to be estimated from segments (Steel 1970) which increased the degree of probable error in estimating stature from the formula of Trotter & Gleser (Brothwell 1981). Height, however, appeared normal, ranging from 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m) to 5 ft 4 in (1.62 m) in the females and approximatel e maleon e . th t (1.8n f i y6 ) 3m Few non-metrical variations were detectable but a strongly marked pre-auricular sulcus was togethe2 noteB n do r wit depressioha n which might indicat r moro e e eon pregnancie s (Kelly 1979) or, alternatively, could have been caused by pressure from squatting or obesity, sinc articulae eth r relationship betwee female nth e sacru iliud m an loosems i femalen ri s than in males (Anderse n Iscai n n 1988) mediaA . l squatting facet t necessarilno , y owino t g squatting, was noted on one female tibia and all available femora, with the exception of the male, exhibited platymeria or anterio-posterior flattening. This is common in ancient 0 18 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1991

population y indicatma d ean s activity over rough terrain. Both femora from skeleto2 B n showed flangelaterae th n so l aspect shafte th f so just belo lessee wth r tuberosity structura , e note MacLaughliy db Brucn& e (1985 Bronzn i ) skeletonse eAg . The measurements from the male cranium (B4) were not characteristic of the Scottish short cist crania give Reiy nb Morand& t (1928) t pathologicabu , l thickenin parietas it f go l bone and of the right femur and left tibia indicated possible Paget's disease or Osteitis Deformans chronia - c bone disease which rarel yoccurt I appear. 40 sf moro se beforeag e eth frequentl thar morn o affecn women nme e i eca n on yi bonetd bode t neventh an ybu n e si th r whole skeleton (Ortner & Putschar 1985). Ther possibls ewa e evidenc f mileo d chronic sclerosing osteomyelitis following traumn ai female skeleton B7. The same generalized disfiguration was seen in the right humerus, radius and ulna fragments in bone scatter Find 9 with a possible cloaca opening in the ulna masked by post-mortem damage. Slight calculu e e teetfemals noteth on wa hn i n si de with some periodontal disease whil e molaon e r only, fro e malmth e skeleton, exhibited cariese th n I . chil f 24-3do 6 months, however, ther markes ewa d hypoplasi unerupten a f ao d upper right first permanent molar and, possibly, in the upper right primary molar which indicated some metabolic disturbanc e latteth n e firsei r th hal tf o yeaf f lifeo r .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The project was supported and financed by Historic Scotland. The illustrations were prepared by Christina Unwin, AOC (Scotland) Ltd.

REFERENCES Brothwell D ,198 1 Digging Bones.p U Oxford. Harman, M 1977 'The bones from Uppermill' in 3 B Kenworthy 'A reconsideration of the "Ardiffery" finds, Cruden, Aberdeenshire', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 108 (1976-7), 89-90. HillH 198P , 2 'Broxmouth hillfort excavations, 1977-1978 interin A . m report'HardinW D n i ,g (ed) Later prehistoric settlement in South-east Scotland, University of Edinburgh occ paper no 8,141-87. IscanY 198 M ,8 'Ris f forensio e c anthropology', Yearbook f Physicalo Anthropology, 1 (1982)3 , 203-30. Kelly A 197M , 9 'Parturitio Pelvid nan c changes', Amer PhysJ Anthrop, (1979)1 5 , 541-6. MacLaughlin, S M & Bruce, M 1985 The shape of the proximal femoral shaft in Bronze Age Scots', J Anatomy (1985), 140, 435. Ortner, D J & Putschar, W G J 1985 Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Pearson , Pilcher W , CorbettQua, L Baillie& R G , G J F M , 198 M D ,, 6 'High PrecisioC 14 n measurement of Irish Oaks to show the Natural 14C variations from AD 1840 to 5210 BC', Radiocarbon, 28 (1986), 911-34. Reid, R W & Morant, G M 1928 'A study of Scottish short cist crania', Biometrica, 20B parts 3-4 (1928), 379-88. Stevenson& Ritchie G N J ,B 198 J , 2 'Cist t Traigsa h Ban, Islay, Argyll', Proc Antiqc So Scot,2 11 (1981-2), 550-9. Steel, D G 1970 'Estimation of stature from fragments of long limb bones', in T D Stewart (ed), Personal Identification Massn i Disasters, Washington , 380-8DC , . Triscott, J 1982 'Excavations at Dryburn Bridge, East Lothian, 1978-1979', in D W Harding (ed), Later prehistoric settlement South-eastn i Scotland, Universit Edinburgf yo pape c , 117-248 h oc o rn .

This paper is published with the aid of a grant from Historic Scotland