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Derbyshire Iron Age bones were of pregnant woman
BBC ^ | Wednesday, May 19, 2010 | unattributed

Posted on 05/19/2010 7:49:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

Tests carried out on a skeleton discovered at an archaeological dig in Derbyshire have found it was that of a pregnant woman.

Experts said they were surprised by the female find because the site, near Monsal Dale in the Peak District, had been believed to be a military scene.

Now, extra lottery funding means there can be a second dig at the Fin Cop hill fort site to find out more.

Archaeologists unearthed the Iron Age skeleton last August.

During the excavation, the woman was uncovered among the jumbled stone of a collapsed rampart.

The main focus of the dig was to find how the ramparts of the hill fort were built and when they were erected and archaeologists described the skeleton find as "unexpected".

Experts said it was evident the woman had been thrown into the ditch as the stone wall of the hill fort was being pushed in.

Specialist analysis of the bones revealed the woman to have been about 21 to 30 years of age when she died between 300 and 200 BC.

The Longstone Local History Group has now been awarded a grant of nearly £50,000 to continue to research the area with the help of Archaeological Research Services Ltd.

One of the project managers, Jim Brightman, said: "Quite a lot of very important finds cannot look like much on site. But when you get back to the lab, throw the scientific techniques and analysis at them, that's when you start to get the story out. The bones are a great example of that, we found out so much more by analysing them."

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs
The remains were found during the dig at Monsal Dale in the Peak District

Derbyshire Iron Age bones were of pregnant woman

1 posted on 05/19/2010 7:49:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 240B; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

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2 posted on 05/19/2010 7:50:12 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: SunkenCiv

Finally! Proof people in the iron age had sex.


3 posted on 05/19/2010 7:51:30 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: SunkenCiv

Comfort woman?

Hanger-on?

Officers’ wife?


4 posted on 05/19/2010 8:07:17 PM PDT by GeronL (Political Correctness Kills)
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To: GeronL
Comfort woman?

Hanger-on?

Officers’ wife?

The less dramatic possibility is that she died of what would have been considered "natural" causes in that time and was buried in the fortification simply because it was being filled in.

5 posted on 05/19/2010 9:23:54 PM PDT by CurlyDave
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To: CurlyDave

That’s no fun


6 posted on 05/19/2010 9:43:52 PM PDT by GeronL (Political Correctness Kills)
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To: SunkenCiv

Hazarding a guess...I’d say she was on the opposing team.

Relegated to land-fill when the need or opportunity arose.


7 posted on 05/20/2010 4:20:44 AM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus)
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To: Tainan

Maybe the father really, really didn’t want to get married.


8 posted on 05/20/2010 6:48:21 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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