'Lavish' jewels unearthed at 6th century burial site in Lincolnshire, UK

Gemma Gadd
Boston Standard
Wed, 16 Oct 2019 09:52 UTC

© Sheffield University.

One of the skeletons unearthed at the Anglo-Saxon burial site in Scremby.

Skeletons and 'lavish' artefacts have been unearthed at an historic burial site in the county.

Archaeologists have been left stunned by the findings - which include 50 graves containing human remains, jewellery and weaponry.

A team from Sheffield University, which led the excavations, made the astonishing discoveries at a sixth century Anglo-Saxon burial site in a field at Scremby, between Skegness and Spilsby.

The ancient cemetery was first discovered when a metal detectorist scanning the farmland uncovered Anglo-Saxon objects including iron shield bosses, copper guilded brooches and spear heads. Ploughing had damaged some of the graves before their existence was known - but many survived intact.

Maps showing location of Skemby

A metal boar's head with garnet eyes - which may have been the nose piece on a helmet.

The excavations that followed have now unearthed 50 ancient graves - many representing what archaeologists call the 'lavish burials' of wealthy individuals at the time. Tragically, one woman buried at the site was found cradling the remains of a baby in her arms.

Archaeologists behind the latest dig, which took place this summer, are now in the process of cleaning and analysing their various finds. Items include human bones and teeth, jewellery such as intricate glass beads and brooches, weapons, and ornate pottery - including a well-preserved enamelled bowl.

The fully-preserved enamelled bowl unearthed at the Anglo-Saxon burial site at Scremby - is one of the most impressive finds.

Lead archaeologist Dr Hugh Willmott describes the bowl as 'a major find in its own right' - with the carefully cleaned-up object revealing 'stunning coloured enamels'.

Speaking to the Standard, he said: "We have a series of burials, 50 in total, what all include some form of grave goods. These can vary from just a single knife to hundreds of beads.

The fully-preserved enamelled bowl unearthed at the Anglo-Saxon burial site at Scremby - is one of the most impressive finds.

An ornate brooch recovered from one of the fifth century graves.

Some of the beads and a spindle whorl which were found at the burial site.

"The male burials often are accompanied by weapons in the forms of spears and shields, whilst the female burials largely contain jewellery such as brooches, beads and buckles.

"Some of the most eye-catching are the beads which are made from coloured glasses, rock crystal and amber."

An ornate brooch recovered from one of the fifth century graves.

The human bone fragments and teeth have now been sent off for analysis using 'ancient DNA sequencing'.

This is the second dig at Scremby by the team, having begun early excavations at the site last year. During this time they found artefacts such as a metal boar's head with garnet eyes - which may have been the nose piece on a helmet - a 'rare' bird shield mount, a copper-alloy cup, and an animal-themed decorated belt fitting.

© Sam Bromage.

The dig in progress at Scremby this summer.

Dr Hugh Willmott with 'Digging for Britain's Professor Alice Roberts.

The findings from the first dig were featured in an episode of BBC's Digging for Britain last November. The latest finds are expected to be featured in an upcoming edition of the show's eighth series, to screened later this year.

Dr Willmott says they have now finished excavating the site, as there is 'nothing left' to find.

Writing about the dig, he added: "The preservation of the skeletal remains, as well as the many grave finds, provide an exciting opportunity to explore the social and cultural dynamics of the community who chose to bury their dead on this chalky outcrop."

Dr Hugh Willmott with 'Digging for Britain's Professor Alice Roberts. Image supplied. Some of the beads and a spindle whorl which were found at the burial site. The archaeology team carefully unearth an ancient knife (seax). A metal boar's head with garnet eyes - which may have been the nose piece on a helmet. This 'rare' bird shield mount was unearthed at the Scremby site.

This 'rare' bird shield mount was unearthed at the Scremby site.

Comment: It'll be interesting to see what the DNA results show because a recent study reports that Britain's Anglo-Saxon period was not the result of a takeover by a foreign overclass, as previously thought, but was instead a society that was the result of interaction and assimilation of a number of nearby countries. As detailed in: Time to axe the Anglo-Saxons? Rethinking the 'migration period',

Judged by the norms of Romano-British archaeology, the post-Roman period looks like a catastrophe from which it took centuries to recover, and whose study is made frustratingly difficult because of this so-called 'cliff edge', after which we lack dateable mass-produced pottery and coinage.

[...]

It looked to her as if most of Britain's population, descended from earlier inhabitants, continued to farm the same landscapes in much the same ways as their ancestors had done over preceding centuries. Additionally, assimilation of immigrants among existing communities is suggested by studies of isotopes in dental enamel from burials of the period. Incomers are only identifiable by these means: they are otherwise invisible - having been buried in the same orientation, with the same rites, and with the same kinds of grave goods as their neighbours, among whom they are intermingled.

[...]

There is little evidence of landscape restructuring or of Romano-British communities being reduced to servile status by a new Germanic elite. Instead, most households lived in the same kind of houses as their neighbours, used the same kind of goods, and farmed the same patterns of fields in the same sorts of ways.

[...] brooches that look Germanic may have been imported initially, but became increasingly popular and were then reproduced by local craftsmen, evolving over the 6th and 7th centuries into better designed and more complicated insular forms that were worn across England: an index of regional taste and fashion, not of immigrant ethnicity.

[...]
Increasingly, linguists are characterising English as a contact language - emerging from the interaction of different languages - rather than the imposed language of a dominant class.

See also:

• 536 AD: Plague, famine, drought, cold, and a mysterious fog that lasted 18 months
• Prittlewell: Stunning artefacts discovered in Anglo-Saxon nobleman's burial chamber in Southend-on-Sea, England
• Viking city: Excavation reveals urban pioneers not violent raiders
• Student's gold pendant find is worth £145,000 and 'rewrites' Anglo Saxon history
• Oxford University genetic study finds Britons still live in 7th century tribal kingdoms

And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Who was Jesus? Examining the evidence that Christ may in fact have been Caesar!