Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, 17, 43-84
The Roman cemetery at Beckfoot, c. 350m to the south-west of the auxiliary fort (NY 0876 4868), and in the proximity of Milefortlet 15, was subject to evaluatory excavation in 2006 by Oxford Archaeology North, in advance of increasing coastal erosion. Although relatively well known, the site had hitherto seen only small-scale rescue excavation, as burials were exposed by erosion and dune collapse. The 12 evaluation trenches revealed general evidence for a prehistoric presence, and more detailed information on three phases of cremation burials dating to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, artefact evidence suggesting that the cemetery had been in use as late as the 4th century. There was, however, no evidence to confirm the position of Milefortlet 15. Importantly, the finds, environmental evidence and scientific dating were able to elucidate funerary practice at the site, and add significantly to the still scant information for this in Cumbria and the wider region.