The face of a 16-year-old woman buried with an incredibly rare gold and garnet cross (“Trumpington Cross”) near Cambridge (England) in the 7th century has been reconstructed after analysis of the skull. The stunning image will be on public display for the first time on 21 June, and new scientific evidence shows that she moved from Central Europe to England as a young woman, resulting in intriguing changes in her diet.

Displays and artifacts, including the famous cross, from a mysterious woman’s funeral discovered by Cambridge Archeology in Trumpington Meadows, at the south end of Cambridge in 2012, will be featured in a major new exhibition at the Cambridge Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (MAA). Under Our Feet: Archaeology of the Cambridge Region is available from 21 June to 14 April 2024.

Forensic artist Hugh Morrison created the likeness using data from deep inside the woman’s skull and tissues from Caucasian women. Without DNA testing, Morrison couldn’t be sure of his exact eye and hair color, but the image gives a clear clue to his appearance shortly before his death. Hugh Morrison said, “It was interesting to watch his face develop. His left eye was about half an inch lower than his right eye. It would be quite noticeable in life.”

A new ‘you are what you eat’ isotopic analysis of the young woman’s bones and teeth during her PhD by bioarchaeologists Dr Sam Leggett and Dr Alice Rose and archaeologist Dr Emma Brownlie. Research at the University of Cambridge also shows that he moved to England sometime after the age of seven, possibly from near the Alps in southern Germany.

Leggett and Rose also found that when the girl arrived in England, the proportion of protein in her diet was reduced by a small but significant amount. This change occurred late in his young life and showed that the time between his emigration and his burial near Cambridge was tragically short.

“She was probably quite a young girl when she moved from a part of Southern Germany near the Alps to a very flat part of England,” said Dr Leggett, now at Edinburgh University. She must have been very sick and had traveled a long way to a completely unfamiliar place—even the food was different, she. She must have been terrible.”

The first examination revealed that the young woman was suffering from an illness, but the cause of death was not yet known. She was incredibly buried—lying on a carved wooden bed with a cross, gold pins (also on display) and beautiful clothing.

His tomb is one of 18 people ever found in Great Britain. The ornate gold and garnet cross (third quarter of the 7th century) is one of only five such burials ever found in Britain, making it one of the oldest in England. He converted to Christianity as a member of the aristocracy, though not of the royal family. The most famous example of such a cross is St. Found in Cuthbert’s coffin.

In 597 AD, the Pope, St. Augustine to England to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxon kings, a process that took decades.

Dr Leggett said: “He must have known it was important and had to carry it on his shoulders. His isotopic results match those of two other women in Cambridgeshire who were similarly buried in beds at the same time.”

“She appears to be part of a select group of women who traveled from mainland Europe, most likely Germany, in the 7th century, but these remain somewhat of a mystery. Were they political brides or brides of Christ? When she arrived in England The fact that his diet has changed indicates that his lifestyle may have changed quite significantly.’

Publishing the Anglo-Saxon excavations at Trumpington, Anglo-Saxon burials expert of Newnham College, Cambridge, Dr. The results of Emma Brownlie’s research on European burials show that a small group of distinguished young women moved from the highlands of Continental Europe to the Cambridge region in the third quarter of the seventh century.”

“Southern Germany is a definite possibility because of the well-known bed burial tradition there. Given the increasingly established connection between bed burials, such cruciform ornaments, and early Anglo-Saxon Christianity, it is possible that their movement was linked to pan-European networks. Distinguished women who actively participated in the Early Church.”

Dr Jody Joy, co-curator of the exhibition, said: “The story of this young woman goes to the heart of our exhibition, a new work that provides insight into the lives of people at key moments in Cambridgeshire history. The MAA considers it one of England’s most important collections of early medieval archeology, and the tombs at Trumpington Bed are just as important. It seems that he can still teach us a lot.”

The exhibition will showcase Trumpington’s cross, along with elaborate gold and garnet pins tied together by a gold chain found around the teenager’s neck. These pins were probably used to fasten a long veil to an outer garment made of fine linen. As it moved, the pins caught the light. The decorative headboard of the burial area will also be exhibited. Source