Anglo-Saxon graves and Neolithic pits and monuments found at MOD army base where anti-tank weapons were tested

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

The graves of men, women and children could have contained members of the same families on Salisbury Plain

A photo of an ancient workbox found at Ministry of Defence army land in BulfordThis workbox was found in the grave of a woman on Ministry of Defence land in Bulford© Wessex Archaeology
Two Neolithic monuments, prehistoric pits and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery of 150 graves containing spears, knives, jewellery and bone combs have been discovered at an army site where anti-tank weaponry was tested during World War Two.

One burial at Bulford has been radiocarbon dated to the mid Anglo-Saxon period, between AD 660 and 780. The graves have been found as part of a £1 billion Ministry of Defence development to create 1,000 homes for service personnel.

A photo of an ancient bone comb found at Ministry of Defence army land in BulfordA bone comb found in a grave© Crown Copyright / MOD2016
Archaeologists are now planning to excavate the monuments next to the cemetery, which are made up of Early Bronze Age round barrows and are likely to become scheduled monuments. Grooved ware pottery, stone and flint axes, a disc-shaped flint knife, a chalk bowl and deer and extinct wild cattle bones were found in the pits.

Andy Corcoran, of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, admits the cemetery was “completely unexpected”.

A photo of ancient horseshoes found at Ministry of Defence army land in BulfordWorld War One horseshoes© Crown Copyright / MOD2016
“It’s incredibly interesting,” he says. “Early site investigation and involvement of our archaeological specialists has kept this project on track.

“Every care has been taken to ensure the archaeological remains on the site have been carefully excavated and recorded.”

A photo of imprints on ancient Ministry of Defence army land in Bulford, WiltshireBulford Camp was established in 1897© Crown Copyright / MOD2016
Set on Salisbury Plain, the grounds were used for re-shoeing warhorses during World War One and training during both World Wars. Evidence suggests the PIAT anti-tank weapon, used during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, was fired at stationary armoured vehicles to test how it would work against German tanks.

“The size, location and date of this cemetery makes it of considerable research importance,” says Si Cleggett, of Wessex Archaeology.

“It contained the graves of women, men and children and was clearly the burial ground for a local community – perhaps that of Bulford’s earliest families. It included a number of re-used graves, a rare occurrence at this time, which may have held members of the same family.”

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Three museums to find Neolithic artefacts in

Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar
Street House Before the Saxons shows the finds demonstrating how people were living in this part of North East Yorkshire thousands of years ago. The excavations have found a Neolithic cairn (3000 BC), Bronze Age burial sites, the remains of a timber house and two timber circles that date to around 2000 BC.

Museums Sheffield: Weston Park
From the weird and wonderful neolithic stone carvings of the peak district through to the troubled days of the miner's strike and Sheffield's regeneration, the Sheffield Life and Times gallery shows what makes the city special.

Oriental Museum, Durham
Politician and diplomat Malcolm MacDonald was also a passionate collector of Chinese ceramics. The backbone of the China in the MacDonald gallery is dedicated to fulfilling his dream of creating a chronological display of the development of this most Chinese of art forms from the Neolithic to the present day.


Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art551809-bulford-army-ministry-defence-archaeology-graves


You might also like

Miklavž

Slovenski šolski muzej v letu 2019

Summer at the Museum

III. Kongres slovenskih muzealcev