As religious beliefs and the location of human settlements have developed over time, so have our burial rites and memorials to the dead.

Our knowledge of these rituals is instrumental in understanding the communities which have inhabited England throughout our known history. Sites such as the recently uncovered Anglo Saxon cemetery in Norfolk, in an excavation by archaeologists from MOLA and funded by Historic England, open up the history of our attitude to death and inform the protection of these important sites.

Here is a short chronology of 5 fascinating burial sites in England:

Upper Palaeolithic (40,000- 10,000 years ago)

Gough’s Cave, Cheddar Gorge.

Goughs Cave,  by Rwendland via Wikimedia commons

A scheduled monument, Gough’s Cave in Somerset provides rare evidence of human activity in the period from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. Organic and other fragile materials often survive well in caves and rock shelters, making them…