Investigating Canterbury’s Late Roman Burials: Thanks to the Kent Archaeological Society

I would like to express my gratitude to the Kent Archaeological Society for generously funding two radiocarbon dates for human remains recovered during the excavation of the former Slatter’s Hotel, St Margaret’s Street, Canterbury in 2018. These samples are an important part of my PhD research on non-conformist burials within the city walls of late Roman Canterbury.

The excavation at Slatter’s Hotel, close to the Roman amphitheatre foundations that are still visible today in the floor of the newly constructed Hampton by Hilton Hotel, revealed a large ditch, into which a number of human skeletons had been placed. These burials do not conform to the usual Roman practice of interring the dead outside the city walls and raise significant questions about funerary behaviour in Canterbury during the 4th century CE. The individuals appear to have been deposited in unusual circumstances, suggesting social, cultural, or possibly crisis-related reasons for their placement.

To establish whether the ditch was used in a single episode or repeatedly over time, I selected one skeleton from the very bottom and another from the top for radiocarbon dating. This distinction is essential for determining whether we are looking at the aftermath of a single event or at a recurring use of the ditch as a burial place. The results will be incorporated into a Bayesian analysis, which combines the scientific dates with archaeological evidence such as stratigraphy and grave goods. Instead of producing only broad ranges, this method uses the position of individuals within the ditch and surrounding stratigraphy alongside the dating of associated objects to refine the results. By combining these different strands of evidence, it is often possible to narrow the timeframe from many decades to within a generation, giving a much clearer picture of when these people were buried.

My wider project investigates non-conformist burials across Canterbury using a multidisciplinary approach that brings together osteology, archaeothanatology and chemical analysis. This allows both the human remains and their burial contexts to be studied in detail, providing new insight into how the city’s population responded to a possible period of crisis, such as a pandemic, at the end of Roman Canterbury. The radiocarbon results from Slatter’s are forthcoming shortly, and I look forward to sharing updates as the project progresses.

I am deeply grateful to the Kent Archaeological Society for supporting this work. Their contribution allows me to address key chronological questions and strengthens the scientific foundations of my research into the lives and deaths of people in late Roman Canterbury.

Adelina Teoaca is the osteoarchaeologist and archive manager for Canterbury Archaeological Trust. With over 10 years of experience as an osteological specialist, she conducts comprehensive assessments of both skeletal and cremated remains. Adelina is currently pursuing a PhD focused on osteobiographies and funerary practices of the Late Roman Period in Kent.

[fg]jpg|Ditch containing human remains at Slatters Hotel excavated in 2018. Image courtesy of Canterbury Archaeological Trust.|Image[/fg]