{"id":41248,"date":"2026-08-20T01:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T01:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/41248\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T01:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T01:14:20","slug":"bronze-age-barrow-reused-as-roman-shrine-and-later-execution-site-in-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/41248\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronze Age barrow reused as Roman shrine and later execution site in England"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Bronze Age<\/a> barrow became the center of a Roman rural shrine at Red Lodge in Suffolk<\/a>, where people returned for ritual acts for centuries.<\/p>\n

\"Bronze<\/a>Head-and-hoof deposit at the site. Credit: A. Forshaw, Britannia (Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies), 2026.<\/p>\n

Archaeological work recorded use from the Early Bronze Age through the medieval period. The main focus was a large round barrow later placed inside a Roman sacred enclosure.<\/p>\n

The barrow was built between about 2200 and 1600 BCE, based on dating of the lower ring-ditch fill. The ditch measured about 45 meters across, with an inner diameter of 35 to 38 meters. A central mound once stood inside it, though later farming removed all visible traces.<\/p>\n

No burial survived. The size and position of the monument suggest it held an important place in the local landscape. Few other Bronze Age<\/a> features were found nearby, leaving the barrow as the main visible feature.<\/p>\n

\"Bronze<\/a>Detail of a head-and-hoof deposit. Credit: A. Forshaw, Britannia (Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies), 2026.<\/p>\n

During the Roman period<\/a>, the barrow gained a new role. A large rectangular sacred enclosure, known as a temenos, was built around it, likely during the early second century CE.<\/p>\n

Few signs of ordinary settlement were found. Pits, animal deposits, a possible well, pond and oven point toward ritual activity.<\/p>\n

A shrine was later built beside the eastern side of the barrow. The timber building measured about 5 by 4.5 meters. Ten postholes marked its walls, while two settings inside may have supported an altar.<\/p>\n

The shrine had wattle-and-daub walls and a tiled roof. About 48 kilograms of painted plaster and 111 kilograms of roof tile were recovered.<\/p>\n

\"Bronze<\/a>Painted wall plaster. Credit: A. Forshaw, Britannia (Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies), 2026.<\/p>\n

Strong evidence for ritual activity came from animal remains. Five pits beside the shrine held pig skulls with attached fore and hind limbs. Archaeologists call these \u201chead-and-hoof\u201d deposits.<\/p>\n

All the pig skulls faced east toward the shrine. The deposits were made at different times, and one pit appears to have been reopened several times. Coins were placed with some skulls, including coins of Antoninus Pius<\/a> and Faustina.<\/p>\n

The deposits mostly contained young adult male pigs. One skull showed signs of decapitation, and the bones were placed soon after death.<\/p>\n

Other offerings included coins, brooches, pins, tweezers and a folded copper-alloy leaf plaque. Fifty-two coins were recovered, with 27 found close to the shrine. Another 11 came from the upper fill of the barrow\u2019s ring-ditch.<\/p>\n

A near-complete cow skeleton was also placed in a pit west of the barrow. The animal showed no signs of butchery or eating. Radiocarbon dating<\/a> placed the deposit between CE 238 and 384.<\/p>\n

\"Bronze<\/a>Distribution of animal burials, coins, and other votive objects. Credit: A. Forshaw, Britannia (Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies), 2026.<\/p>\n

The shrine and sacred enclosure stayed in use into the late fourth century. The latest related coins date to around CE 348 to 350.<\/p>\n

The site\u2019s later history took another turn. A medieval burial was cut into the former Roman enclosure ditch. A document from 1238 refers to a gallows in the area, and the barrow had been linked to a possible execution site.<\/p>\n

No physical gallows survived, and the burial showed no clear signs of hanging. Still, the location fits a pattern in which old barrows later became boundary markers or sites for punishment.<\/p>\n

At Red Lodge, the same ancient monument served different roles across time. A Bronze Age funerary monument later stood at the center of a Roman sacred space, where people left animals, coins and personal objects. Centuries later, the same place may have been used for executions.<\/p>\n

Publication: Forshaw, A. (2026). A reused bronze age barrow and Roman religious shrine site at Red Lodge, Suffolk.\u00a0Britannia (Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies), 1\u201331. doi:10.1017\/s0068113x26100841<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Bronze Age barrow became the center of a Roman rural shrine at Red Lodge in Suffolk, where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18199,27,27108],"class_list":["post-41248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rome","tag-bronze-age","tag-rome","tag-zooarchaeology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}