Six
More Bodies Found Near
"King of Stonehenge" Site
By Stuart Coles, PA News
Archaeologists have discovered six more bodies near
the grave of the so-called "King of Stonehenge", it was
announced today.
The remains of four adults and two children were found at a site in
Amesbury, Wiltshire.
It was about half-a-mile from that of the Amesbury Archer, the Bronze Age
man who was buried with the earliest gold found in Britain. He was dubbed
by the media as King of Stonehenge - so-called because it is thought he
might have had a major role in creating Stonehenge. Tests shoed he was
born in the Alps region in central Europe.
The latest bones discovered are some 4,500 years old the same age as the
Archer, said Salisbury-based Wessex Archaeology which excavated the site
during the digging of a trench for a new water pipe early this month.
Radiocarbon tests will be done to find out more precise dates for the
burials but the people are believed to have lived during the building of
Stonehenge.
Wessex Archaeology said it is possible the bones are those of people from
different generations, as the grave seems to have been reopened to allow
further burials to be made. The bones of the earlier burials were mixed up
but those of the later burials, a man and a child, were undisturbed. They
said the grave, which is about three miles from Stonehenge, had narrowly
missed being damaged by trench digging for electric cables and a water
pipe.
The grave contained four pots in the Beaker style that is typical of the
period, some flint tools, one flint arrowhead and a bone toggle for
fastening clothing. Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick. of Wessex Archaeology, said:
"This new find is really unusual. It is exceptionally rare to find
the remains of so many people in one grave like this in southern England.
The number of Beaker pots in the grave, four, is only exceeded by the
grave of the Amesbury Archer, where there were five.
"The grave is fascinating because we are seeing the moment when
Britain was moving from the Stone Age into the Bronze Age, around 2,300BC.
The large number of bodies placed in this grave is something more commonly
found in the Stone Age, but the Beaker style pottery is found in Bronze
Age burials.
The new discovery was found almost exactly a year after the Amesbury
Archer was found during excavation for a housing scheme at Boscombe Down,
Amesbury, three miles from Stonehenge. His grave was the richest found in
Britain from its time, containing about 100 items, more than ten times as
many objects as any other burial site from this time, and included hair
tresses that are the earliest gold in the country.
|
