A sand-filled cavity, the top ornamented by rows of limpet shells, beneath a stone slab 7-8 feet long x 2.5 feet wide and circa 6 inches thick. Some deeply inscribed 'letters' about 2 inches long were reported on the upper stone surface. The cavity contained a skeleton and two earthenware jars. The smaller pot was decorated with a criss-cross pattern and the larger one with embossed knobs. The recoginition of the lettering on the grave cover seems suspect; alternatively, the burial may not be prehistoric, although the pottery sounds prehistoric and the limpet shells have been a feature of other burials of the period. Recorded during the construction of Atkinson road, Fulwell in 1927
SITEASS
While Miket includes this, he concludes by saying, "The recoginition of the lettering may be suspect, but on the other hand the burial may be outside the prehistoric period". Nevertheless the pottery sounds prehistoric, and the limpet shells have been a feature of other burials thought to be this period.
Site Type: Broad
Cist
SITEDESC
The O.S. quotes a letter from G.B. Gibbs to O.G.S. Crawford, 19.viii.27. "An inhumation burial unearthed in ballast when Atkinson Road, Fulwell, was being constructed in 1927 was described to G. Bennet Gibbs by R.D. Paxton. At a depth of 3 ft a large slab, 7-8 ft long x 2.5 ft wide and circa 6" thick with one edge slightly rounded was discovered. Paxton could not remember definitely if the slab had been supported by side and end stones (cist) but he thought it must have been. Beneath the slab was a sand-filled cavity; the top of which was ornamented by regular rows of limpet shells. A skeleton was found within the cavity and two earthenware jars...During the removal of the stone slab, some inscribed letters about 2" long and deeply cut were seen on the top surface by Paxton but before these could be interpreted, the slab was broken up and used for the foundations of a concrete road at Laburnum Road railway crossing (NZ 3954 5918)".
Site Name
Atkinson Road, cist
Site Type: Specific
Cist
HER Number
1
Form of Evidence
Find
Sources
<< HER 1 >> Ordnance Survey archaeological record cards, 1956, burial (possibly Bronze Age)
R. Miket, 1984, The Prehistory of Tyne and Wear, p. 59, no. 1
