A Prehistoric Rock Shelter Burial Site and Enclosure at Scabba Wood, Sprotbrough, South Yorkshire

Abstract

In 1992 two Middle Neolithic adult skeletons were excavated by South Yorkshire Archaeological Services from beneath a rock overhang at Scabba Wood (SE527019), near Sprotbrough, within one of the valleys north of the Don Gorge. In 1994, the Yorkshire Archaeological Society’s Doncaster branch carried out a geophysical survey of a rectangular enclosure (SE530019), previously recognised by air photography, north-east of the wood, and in 1996 they began the excavation of a stone-walled, sub-rectangular enclosure within the wood, 150 m south of the rock overhang (SE530107). In 1997 and 1998 they were joined by a team from Sheffield University that also continued investigations at the stone-walled enclosure and along the rock overhang. Finds indicate occupation from the Late Iron and Roman period and Neolithic and Early Bronze Age use of the rock overhang for the disposal of the dead.

Keywords:

• Neolithic
• Burials
• Rock Shelter
• Iron Age
• Roman
• Settlement

Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the permission and support of the landowner, the late Mr. Morris. We thank the former Doncaster group of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, particularly the late Ian Stead, Doug Croft and Andrew Steers. Ray Stables provided aerial photographic expertise and Janet Fletcher fed the team. The students were Victoria Ann Tomalin, J March, Liz Watts, Charlotte Dawson, Amy Dean, Allison Blanchard, Duncan Sayer, Lesley Richmond, James Gerrard, Paul Jeffries, Pat Driscoll, Pat Stuart, Neil Dransfield, Michele Forte, Rik Legge, Abby Guinness, Alastair Chitham, Shani Oates, Becky Morphy, Adam Daubney, James Buse, Harriet Foster, Richard Chatterton, Matthew Walsham, Chris Baker, Gillian Worrall, Tamsin Helliwell, Alex MacDonald, Elaine Bestwick, Tony Swiss, Paul Williamson, Carey-Louisa Maguire, Marie Dickerson, Ian Mylrea, Jacky Roebuck, Jacky Worrall, Alan North and Philip Harrison. A fuller version of this report is lodged with South Yorkshire HER. Illustrations were drawn by Irene Deluis (Figures 2, 3, 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17–19, 21–23, 26–31) and Colin Merrony (Figure 1). Photographs were taken by Paul Buckland, Mike Parker Pearson and Ray Stables, and the processing of the Lidar data was undertaken by Tim Prosser. The authors are grateful to Peter Robinson at Doncaster Museum for assistance with the finds and the archiving of the site records.