Updown early medieval cemetery in Eastry, Kent, United Kingdom, was used as a burial place in the 7th century.

Excavations followed in 1976 by Sonia Chadwick Hawkes and 1989 by Brian Philp, both times ahead of development plans in the area: first a pipeline and then a bypass.

[1] This led to the discovery that one of the individuals in the cemetery, dubbed Updown Girl, had mixed European and West African ancestry.

[10] The Updown cemetery was among this group and it was established close to a road connecting the Roman forts at Richborough and Dover.

[11] The Updown cemetery was used in the 7th century,[12] and based on the dating of grave goods found with the bodies, activity at the site can be split into two broad phases.

The first phase dates to the first half of the 7th century; this covered approximately thirteen burials, mostly on the south side of the cemetery.

[16] The material from the ditches when they were dug was likely used to create an earthwork feature in the enclosed area, possibly a low mound.

[20] Kenneth St Joseph suggested that the cluster of rectangular features around 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) long and roughly aligned east to west was likely to be a cemetery.

[22] Three years after the cemetery was discovered, part of the site was at risk due to plans to lay a pipeline through the area.

Mary James had participated in excavations at other early medieval cemeteries at Worthy Park in Hampshire and Finglesham, both directed by Hawkes.

The investigating team suggested that "the movement of the Updown Girl's ancestors was presumably linked to ... Late Antique trading routes".