Southwick Hills, human remains

Southwick Hills, human remains

HER Number
16
District
Sunderland
Site Name
Southwick Hills, human remains
Place
Southwick
Map Sheet
NZ35NE
Class
Religious Ritual and Funerary
Site Type: Broad
Cemetery
Site Type: Specific
Cemetery
General Period
UNCERTAIN
Specific Period
Uncertain
Form of Evidence
Find
Description
Human bones, and sometimes entire skeletons, have been frequently discovered on Southwick Hills, half a mile north-west of the village, during earth moving operations associated with limestone quarrying. One reference refers to two or three skeletons found near a Mr. Brunton's quarry, each with a circle of limpet shells placed around the skulls. Miket suggests that the burials may have been prehistoric, but the precise location of the various quarries on this ridge is not known.
Easting
438000
Northing
559000
Grid Reference
NZ438000559000
Sources
<< HER 16 >> E. Mackenzie & M. Ross, 1834, View of...County...Durham, Vol. I, p. 328
W. Fordyce, 1857, History of...Durham, Vol. II, p. 540
R. Miket, 1984, The Prehistory of Tyne and Wear, p. 64, no. 28