Archaeologists have unearthed a 1,400-year-old grave containing the remains of a young girl and a boy, as well as elaborate jewellery, in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Lincolnshire, eastern England.

The two people, whose ages and relationships have not yet been determined by researchers, were buried side by side, with the younger child’s skeleton resting on the older girl’s back. Scattered around the youth’s head and chest were two small gold necklaces studded with garnet gemstones and a delicate silver pendant with an amber frame. The grave also contained two small blue glass beads and a ring-shaped brooch.

“Although many Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are known in Lincolnshire, most of these were excavated decades ago when the focus was on the grave rather than the people buried there,” said Jacqueline McKinley, chief osteoarchaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, the organization that excavated the cemetery. . in practice. Osteoarchaeology is the study of human skeletons at archaeological sites.

Archaeologists discovered the remains of more than 20 people, including a teenager and a child, in a newly excavated cemetery. A number of burials from the sixth and seventh centuries AD have been found in these tombs, allowing archaeologists to date the cemetery to the Anglo-Saxon period of Britain (AD 410-1066).

The Anglo-Saxon period of approximately 650 years began with the withdrawal of Roman legions and civil governments from Britain, opening the floodgates to Pictish raids. (indigenous people of the north) Scots from Scotland and Ireland (before 1400 the word “Scot” meant a person from Ireland) and Anglo-Saxons from northern Germany and Scandinavia. By 500 AD, Germanic immigrants had settled much of Britain, according to English Heritage, the charity that oversees England’s historic sites. The Anglo-Saxon period ended with the Battle of Hastings in 1066, which resulted in William, Duke of Normandy seizing the English throne from King Harold II.

Archaeologists found 250 Anglo-Saxon artifacts in the cemetery, including knives, jewelry and pottery. According to the statement, these grave goods and the people they were buried with were placed on top of a circular trench dating back to the Bronze Age (2300-800 BC). This shows that a tomb landscape was created long before the Anglo-Saxon period.

Investigations are ongoing to determine whether the youth and child are related and to determine the economic, cultural and social factors affecting the community buried in the cemetery.

“What’s exciting is that we can use different scientific advances here, including isotopic analysis and DNA analysis,” McKinley said. Isotopes are different versions of chemical elements that incorporate into human tissues and leave evidence of humans’ past geographical movements and general health. “This will give us a much better understanding of the population, from its mobility to its genetic history and even its diet,” McKinley said.

According to the statement, experts are also looking for clues about this Anglo-Saxon community in the cemetery plan.