During the early and middle Iron Age (750-100 BC) in south-east England, as across most of Britain, it seems that communities did not bury their dead in graves. Instead, the evidence suggests that when most people died they were placed somewhere until their flesh had rotted away leaving just their bones. Some of these bones were then buried around settlements as part of other rituals.

In the late Iron Age (100 BC-AD 43) this practice changed in the south-east. Rather than leaving bodies exposed, people began to cremate their dead before burying them in cemeteries. The cremated remains were often buried with other objects or grave goods. The type of objects a person was buried with appears to have depended on their status within their community. Some people were buried with only a pot; others might have a brooch also placed in the grave. There are several cremation burials that are so rich in grave goods that it seems likely that they were at the top of the social hierarchy, either ‘kings’ or ‘queens’. These graves, like the one at Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, include imported pottery, buckets, metal vessels, mirrors and Roman wine amphorae.