The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Shrubland Hall Quarry, Coddenham, Suffolk

The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Shrubland Hall Quarry, Coddenham, was unknown until its discovery during investigation of an Iron Age site. The fifty Anglo-Saxon burials found were possibly the remains of a larger cemetery, extending an unknown distance to the west, the other graves being lost to earlier gravel extraction. While most of the fifty burials lacked grave-goods, or had modest accompaniments, several graves included elaborate grave-goods, some imported, and typical of the later 7th and early 8th century. Coins found in two burials give a general date to the cemetery, placing it in the later 7th and early 8th centuries. The grave-goods are mostly typical of the mid-7th to early 8th century, when a distinct range of object types was deposited. The excavation adds a cemetery to the known mortuary landscape at a time when accompanied burial was about to end. The graves illustrate the varied practices used in this period, including structures within graves and the use of barrows.