New radiocarbon dates from Ipplepen

We have just had the latest set of radiocarbon dates! The earliest one in this batch is 2nd century AD, and confirms a mid-Roman date for a pit that contained a large amount of burnt material. The second date is 5th century AD, and came from some rubbish that was dumped into a steep-sided pit or well: this is extremely exciting as it shows that the settlement continued to be occupied after Britain ceased to be part of the Roman Empire. We also decided to date one further burial (excavated in 2014) in the cemetery which turned out to be mid-7th century AD: this is a similar date to the others we have, and it now looks like the cemetery is firmly early Christian in date (not Roman as first thought).

 

Steve Rippon

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