I understand that you feel that you must disturb a burial site for Knowledge. But what I don't understand is do you re intomb the person along with their valuables. Or do you stick that in a museum to be gawked at by the morbid and curious ?
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Sleeping Beauty
Photograph courtesy University of Cambridge
The skeleton of a young Christian noblewoman, who was laid to rest on a "burial bed" some 1,400 years ago, is giving archaeologists precious clues to the earliest days of the English church.
Unearthed in 2011 in a village near Cambridge (map), the teenager wore the badge of her faith in the shape of an exquisite gold-and-garnet cross, found on her chest and just visible in the picture above.
The ornate treasure marks the grave as one of the earliest known Christian burials in Anglo-Saxon England, researchers from the University of Cambridge announced last week.
(Also see "Gold Hoard Pictures: Largest Anglo-Saxon Treasure Found.")
Christians previously lived and died in Britain under Roman rule. But the newfound grave dates to the mid-seventh century, when Anglo-Saxons—the Germanic peoples who founded the English nation and language—were starting to convert to Christianity. (See more England photos.)
In addition, the wooden burial bed on which the 16-year-old was placed is one of only a handful of such finds discovered in Britain, the team says.
—James Owen
Published March 21, 2012
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Christian Treasure
Photograph courtesy University of Cambridge
This solid-gold pectoral cross inlaid with garnets was recovered from the early Anglo-Saxon grave. Only the fifth cross of its type yet found in the U.K., the treasure is among the earliest Christian artifacts known from Anglo-Saxon Britain, said dig team leader Alison Dickens of the University of Cambridge's Archaeological Unit.
Loops on the back of the cross indicate the bauble was worn stitched into the young woman's clothes. The cross was probably made in England, but the gold and garnets were likely sourced from as far away as Asia.
For the dead teenager to have been buried with such a valuable object shows that "she's an important, probably wealthy person," Dickens added.
(Related pictures: "Celtic Princess Tomb Yields Gold, Amber Riches.")
Published March 21, 2012
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Lady of the Cross
Photograph courtesy University of Cambridge
The gold cross pokes from the noblewoman's grave during excavations at a housing-development site near Cambridge, England.
Other items found at the seventh-century burial site included an iron knife, a waist chain, and glass beads, which would have been kept in a purse on the end of the chain.
While the cross is clearly Christian in its symbolism, the other objects hark back to earlier beliefs, said dig leader Dickens.
Pagan burials often contained personal effects of the dead for use in the afterlife, but as Christianity took hold, that practice petered out, Dickens said. The newfound grave thus marks a "transitional point" between Christian and pagan beliefs.
(Related pictures: "Pagan-Cult Worship Objects Found.")
Published March 21, 2012
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Burial Bed
Photograph courtesy Ricky Patten, University of Cambridge
Seen during excavation work in 2011, the body of the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman—which dates back to between A.D. 650 and 680—was laid to rest on a "burial bed."
Constructed from wood and metal, the bed had a slatted base and a straw mattress.
Burial beds are extremely rare, but the few that are known also date to the early Anglo-Saxon period, the study team said. Why only a chosen few were buried in their beds remains a mystery.
(Related pictures: "51 Headless Vikings in English Execution Pit Confirmed.")
Published March 21, 2012
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Cross Marks the Spot
Photographs courtesy University of Cambridge
Perhaps worn by an early English convert to Christianity, the garnet-encrusted cross (seen above from the front and back) may mean that the grave marks the site of an ancient monastery or missionary center, according to archaeologists.
Along with the noblewoman's burial site, the team found the graves of two other teenage females and one individual of undetermined gender in his or her twenties next to the remains of an Anglo-Saxon settlement.
(Related: "Stonehenge Settlement Found: Builders' Homes, 'Cult Houses.'")
The cross indicates that the site had "some sort of Christian focus, be it a monastery, nunnery, or something like that," Dickens said.
Published March 21, 2012
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Next: Lifelike "Wet Mummy" Found During Roadbuilding >>
Photograph from Fame Pictures/Barcroft
Published March 21, 2012
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