Posted on 05/17/2002 12:33:42 PM PDT by Clive
A 4,000-year- old grave found near Stonehenge contains the remains of an archer and a trove of artifacts that make it one of the richest early Bronze Age sites in Europe, archeologists said Thursday.
"It's a fantastically important discovery both for the number of artifacts found in that grave and the range of artifacts. It's absolutely unique," said Gillian Varndell, a curator of the British Museum's prehistory department.
About 100 objects, including a pair of rare gold earrings, were found three miles east of Stonehenge with the bones of a man who died at about the time the monolithic stone circle was taking the form we see today.
"It is the single richest burial from the British Isles" at about this date, said Andrew Fitzpatrick, the Wessex Archaeology project manager in charge of the site at Amesbury, 120 kilometres southwest of London.
"Previously, if seven or eight objects had been placed in the grave, we would have thought that person quite wealthy and highly regarded," Mr. Fitzpatrick said. "Here, we have getting-on-for 100. It's much bigger than anything we could have imagined."
The man has been identified as an archer because the objects buried with him included stone arrowheads and stone wristguards that protected the arm from the recoil of the bow.
There also were stone tools for butchering carcasses and for making more arrowheads.
As well as the archery equipment, the man had three copper knives and a pair of gold earrings, Mr. Fitzpatrick said. He said the archeologists believe the earrings were wrapped around the ear rather than hanging from the ear lobe.
He described the earrings as among the earliest kinds of metal object found in Britain.
"They were very rare and the metals they were made from may have been imported," he said.
The burial, in about 2300 BC, occurred at "the very brink of the Bronze Age," where Neolithic and metal-using societies meet, Ms. Varndell said. It was a stage when people were using copper and sheet gold and were about to learn how to use complicated metals.
The discovery has resonance throughout the continent, she said, explaining that similar materials are discovered in graves across Europe.
"It's a society in which there is navigation, travel and trade on a pretty large scale," she said. "They are exchanging ideas, ideologies and technologies that are drawn on and adapted."
Asked how the discovery compared with other such burials, she said: "I can't think of a bigger grave of the period which is so stuffed with so many objects. ... This grave is going to be immensely significant."
The arrowheads and other equipment were among the largest groups of archery equipment ever found together, Wessex Archaeology said.
The grave was found May 3, while the team was excavating a Roman cemetery at a building site for a new school.
The team didn't make the discovery public until this week, Mr. Fitzpatrick said, because "we couldn't make the site secure, so we didn't want to encourage visitors." The Roman graves were very deep and people could have fallen in, he said.
All the archeological material has been removed from the site for study, he said.
Or the gold may have come from the Dolaucothi gold mine in Wales which dates to the bronze age. Later on, the Romans found it rich enough to excavate millions of tons of ore.
I bet the F students wouldn't mind having a look.
I like an editor who understands economy. Just cut and paste the title and you’re good for 100 or more stories.
Found near Stonehenge? Was he a Wiccan?
No, he was a drummer.
Has anyone found any Hobbit graves?
Hobbit half-graves, maybe.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
