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<< Other Photo Pages >> Tetney Log Coffin Burial - Round Barrow(s) in England in Lincolnshire

Submitted by Anne T on Saturday, 28 February 2026  Page Views: 1654

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Tetney Log Coffin Burial Alternative Name: Tetney Golf Course Barrow, Tetney Coffin
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 0.8 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Lincolnshire Type: Round Barrow(s)
Nearest Town: Grimsby  Nearest Village: Tetney
Map Ref: TA3064300616
Latitude: 53.486048N  Longitude: 0.032544W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 Destroyed Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 2 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Tetney Log Coffin Burial
Tetney Log Coffin Burial submitted by Anne T : From the Archaeology Wiki website. Credit: Lincoln Museum/York Archaeological Trust (Vote or comment on this photo)
Early Bronze Age round barrow discovered when a mechanical excavator accidentally flattened an unscheduled burial mound, exposing a log coffin, now on display at the newly reopened Lincoln Museum.

This was in July 2018 during pond-clearing works at Tetney Golf Course, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire. The machine exposed an oak log-coffin containing the remains of a single individual and a hafted miniature battle-axe. A rescue excavation led by Dr Hugh Willmott from the University of Sheffield recorded the surviving depositional context and recovered environmental samples from the broken coffin.

Dendrochronology and radiocarbon wiggle-matching date the felling of the oak to 2032 BC, placing the burial firmly in the Early Bronze Age and making it one of only around 65 known log-coffin burials from Bronze Age Britain. The coffin was formed from a substantial split and hollowed oak log from a fast-growing tree approximately 170 years old, using a split-timber construction technique. Chiselled grooves at either end held vertical slots, and fragments of twine rope indicate the lid was secured by lashing. Large stones, including at least one brought from approximately five kilometres away, were placed on top to weigh down the lid.

The primary burial (SK001) was a robust male in his 30s, standing between 1.75m and 1.83m tall, in good health apart from early osteoarthritis in his left knee. Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis indicates he did not grow up in the immediate vicinity; he may have spent his childhood elsewhere in England or possibly in Continental Europe. The body was laid flexed on a mat of interleaved oak and yew twigs, with a rough pillow of oak twigs at the western end. Pollen analysis revealed a possible garland of sorrel, bird's-foot and corn parsley placed around his head, and a plant-based food offering of cereal grains, black nightshade, white bird's-foot and whole hazelnuts was placed near his abdomen. The burial probably took place in late summer to early autumn of 2032 BC.

The only artefact recovered was a miniature battle-axe with a polished head of distinctive fossiliferous limestone and a perfectly preserved wooden haft. Only 12 such complete hafted examples are known from Britain, making this an exceptionally rare find. The stone may have come from North Yorkshire, which is one of the possible places where isotope analysis suggests the man may have spent time as a child. The axe was highly polished and seemingly unused, interpreted as a symbol of authority and status rather than a practical tool.

The barrow was approximately 25m in diameter, constructed from local silt and gravel scraped up around the burial. At least fourteen other round barrows have been identified in close proximity, either as earthworks or from aerial photographs, indicating this was part of a complex mortuary landscape. A secondary burial, represented only by metatarsals from a second adult, was inserted into the barrow between 2020 and 1875 cal BC, approximately 150 years after the primary interment.

Initial stabilisation of the coffin took place at the Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth, with full conservation by York Archaeological Trust funded by a £110,000 Historic England grant.


References:
Historic England, "Rare early Bronze Age log coffin discovered on Lincolnshire golf course, 10th September 2021";
University of Sheffield, "Rare early Bronze Age log coffin discovered on Lincolnshire golf course, 10th September 2021";
OAOpen, "An early Bronze Age log-coffin burial from Tetney, Lincolnshire, Willmott, H (Ed), CC By Licence Open Access";
The Past, "Buried in the Bronze Age: unearthing a rare log coffin in Lincolnshire";
York Archaeology Trust, "Bronze-Age Log Coffin Being Conserved by YAT, 8th September 2021";
BSKY Post, "Hugh Willmott, 5th February 2026, Early Bronze Age Coffin Burial Discovered in Tetney"; and
Historic England List ID 1469975, "Round Barrow Cemetery with outlying barrow to the west of Tetney and north of the Waithe Beck". Note: the grid reference given in the excavation report places the coffin on the NNW edge (or just outside) of the barrow.

Information for Visitors:
Condition: Barrow destroyed by mechanical excavator in 2018; coffin and finds recovered and conserved
Ambience: Golf course setting, former marshland
Access: On Tetney Golf Course, accessible by road
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Tetney Log Coffin Burial
Tetney Log Coffin Burial submitted by Anne T : Image published by the BBC, see Bronze Age Coffin found at Tetney goes on display at Lincoln Museum. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tetney Log Coffin Burial
Tetney Log Coffin Burial submitted by Anne T : Credit: York Archaeological Trust (see link in the main site page text, reference section) (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
TA3000 : Bronze Age Barrow site and cemetery at Tetney Golf Course: aerial 2021 (5) by Simon Tomson
by Simon Tomson
©2021(licence)
TA3000 : Tetney Golf Course and barrow site: aerial 2022 by Chris
by Chris
©2022(licence)
TA3000 : Bronze Age Barrow site and cemetery at Tetney Golf Course: aerial 2021 (1) by Simon Tomson
by Simon Tomson
©2021(licence)
TA3000 : Waithe Beck passing through Tetney Golf Course: aerial 2026 (2) by Simon Tomson and Chris
by Simon Tomson and Chris
©2026(licence)
TA3000 : Tetney Golf Course from the church tower by Chris
by Chris
©2013(licence)

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"Tetney Log Coffin Burial" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: Tetney Log Coffin Burial by Anne T on Saturday, 28 February 2026
(User Info | Send a Message)
Our AI Assistant has also found the following information about this Bronze Age Coffin and it's occupant:

A full account of this remarkable burial has now been published open access by Dr Hugh Willmott of the University of Sheffield, in a monograph edited for the Society of Antiquaries of London (Archaeologia, volume 114, 2025) [see link in our main site page text age]. The AIA adds more information by Dr. Willmott:

"Four thousand years ago, on a late summer's day in 2032 BC, a community on the Lincolnshire marshes buried one of their own. The man — robust, in his 30s, around 5'9" tall — was laid in a coffin hewn from a massive oak trunk, flexed on a bed of interleaved oak and yew twigs, a garland of sorrel, bird's-foot and corn parsley around his neck. Beside him they placed a food offering of cereal grains, hazelnuts and berries, and a single, extraordinary object: a miniature battle-axe with a polished head of fossiliferous limestone and a perfectly preserved wooden handle. Only 12 such complete hafted examples are known from the whole of Bronze Age Britain.

The burial might have remained undisturbed had a mechanical digger not flattened the unscheduled round barrow while clearing a pond at Tetney Golf Course in July 2018. "Luckily when the burial was found, myself and a team of staff and students from the department of archaeology were working on a nearby research and training excavation," Dr Willmott told The Guardian. "This was a brilliant learning experience for our students to see what can be achieved at short notice."

What followed was a race against time. The coffin, sealed for millennia in waterlogged clay, was already beginning to deteriorate in the hot July air. Willmott's team from the University of Sheffield carried out a rapid rescue excavation, recording the coffin's depositional context and recovering environmental samples before the remains degraded further. Tim Allen, Inspector of Ancient Monuments at Historic England, described the significance: "This discovery takes us to the moment in time when a man was lain to rest in a fragile landscape of woods, salt and marsh."

Dendrochronology and radiocarbon wiggle-matching pinpoint the oak's felling to 2032 BC with remarkable precision — not just to a year, but to a season. The tree was a fast-growing oak, around 170 years old when felled, roughly split in two and hollowed out to form the coffin. Chiselled vertical slots at either end held ropes to secure the lid, and large stones — at least one brought from some five kilometres away — were placed on top to weigh it down, suggesting the coffin may have been left open and visible for a time before the barrow was raised over it.

Isotope analysis of the man's teeth tells a story of mobility: he did not grow up in Lincolnshire. Strontium and oxygen values suggest a childhood spent elsewhere in England, or possibly in Continental Europe. Intriguingly, the fossiliferous limestone of the battle-axe head has its closest known source in North Yorkshire — one of the possible regions where the isotopes suggest he may have lived as a child. Whether the stone was meant to symbolise his origins or was chosen purely for its striking appearance, the axe was highly polished, apparently unused, and speaks plainly of status and authority."
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