English archaeologists have discovered an exciting burial ground from the Anglo-Saxon era during excavations during construction work on the British-Danish “Viking Link” underwater power cable. Traces of a ring ditch and a total of 23 burial sites were discovered.
Among other things, gold jewelry and transparent glass beads were recovered as grave goods. (Foto: Wessex Archaeology)
There are also numerous grave goods such as knives, jewelry and ceramic vessels. Analysis of around 250 of the recovered items suggests that the burial ground was used in the 6th and 7th centuries AD.
Professor Alice Roberts from the University of Birmingham: “The middle of the first millennium is a mysterious time in Britain, historical sources are few and far between. Therefore, all finds from this period are very valuable and help us understand what happened back then.”
For example, among those buried is a teenage girl who was found lying on her side. At that time it was buried with gold pendants, a ring-shaped brooch, glass beads and a silver pendant with an amber setting.
The burial ground contained 23 skeletons from the Anglo-Saxon era – one of them pictured here. (Foto: Wessex Archaeology)
“We found really beautiful grave goods. But I can’t wait to find out more about the people themselves by analyzing the bones and teeth,” shared Prof. Roberts a media statement with. This should actually be exciting.
The aim is to determine the family relationships between those buried
The next step is to carry out isotope and DNA analyzes on the skeletal remains. This is intended to determine the familial and genetic relationships between all burials in the cemetery.
In addition, the researchers involved in the project hope that the new analysis methods will provide more information about the mobility of the deceased within early medieval British society and – last but not least – their diet.
The huge site was discovered during construction work on an undersea power cable. (Foto: Wessex Archaeology)
Jacqueline McKinley, senior osteoarchaeologist at Wessex Archaeology: “In previous finds of this type, the focus was usually on the grave goods and not on the people buried there. In this case, scientific progress is helping us to change that.”
Background: The Viking Link subsea cable was put into operation at the end of 2023. It runs from Revsing in Sydjylland, Denmark, to Bliner Fen in Lincolnshire, where the Anglo-Saxon burial ground was also discovered.
Our QUIZ on the topic of ENGLAND
Article as PDF version
2024-01-09 21:40:48
#England #AngloSaxon #burial #ground #6th #century #discovered #construction #work #underwater #power #cables
