A cathedral cemetery: Problems in excavation and interpretation

Abstract

Abstract This paper deals with the excavation and interpretation of the medieval and Anglo‐Saxon cemeteries north of Winchester Cathedral. Excavation method and post‐excavation analysis is described and discussed. Ideal and reality are contrasted with especial reference to the medieval graveyard. The importance of the Anglo‐Saxon cemetery for an understanding of the structural history of the church to which it belongs is demonstrated. The burials are not seen solely as individual graves, but as part of the cemetery structure, and the cemetery is seen as part of the whole church complex, the understanding of one being dependent on the understanding of the other.