The History Blog

Archaeological contractors excavating a site along a planned cable route in Lincolnshire have discovered a 1,300-year-old grave containing the remains of a teenage girl and a child. The two had been placed on their sides with the child as the big spoon behind the teenager. They were buried with valuable jewelry: two gold pendants with cabochon garnets, a silver pendant with an amber mount, two small donut-shaped translucent turquoise glass beads and an annular brooch.

The excavation unearthed the burials of more than 20 individuals inside a Bronze Age ring ditch, suggesting the site held funerary significance for centuries before it was used as a cemetery in the Anglo-Saxon period. More than 250 grave goods — knives, jewelry, pottery — were discovered in these burials, all of them dating to the 6th and 7th centuries.

Jacqueline McKinley, Principal Osteoarchaeologist, Wessex Archaeology, said: “Although many Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are known in Lincolnshire, most were excavated decades ago when the focus was on the grave goods, not the people buried there. Excitingly, here we can employ various scientific advancements, including isotopic and DNA analyses. This will give us a far better understanding of the population, from their mobility to their genetic background and even their diet.”

The relationship between the child and the teenager is not yet known but research and analysis are ongoing and will include isotope and Ancient DNA analysis of these and other skeletal remains. This will help to identify familial relationships and broader genetic links both within this community and between others in the region, and the movement of people in wider society.

Builders restoring the roof of a 16th century building at Christ’s College, Cambridge University, have discovered three wall paintings hidden behind a wooden roof joist. The wall paintings depict a crowned portcullis, a crowned red Lancaster rose and a third motif that is partially obscured but is likely a fleur-de-lis. These motifs are all elements of the family crest of the foundress of Christ’s College, Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII.

The paintings were found in First Court, the oldest part of Christ’s College dating to the 15th century, in the roof over the northwest wall of the original library. They extend over 20 feet and were painted directly onto the plaster. Limewash was applied around the artworks to make them stand out.

Originally founded as God’s House, a school for grammar teachers, in 1437, it was enlarged and refounded as Christ’s College by Margaret Beaufort in 1505. She financed the transformation of a modest school into a fully-fledged college of Cambridge University, donated 39 books to form the kernel of its prestigious library, endowed it with two estates complete with their manors and spent £1625 on construction for the college between 1505 and 1509. She bequeathed even more of her properties to Christ’s College in her will, guaranteeing that it would have the steady income needed to thrive as an educational institution for centuries after her death.

Lady Margaret’s legacy is embedded in the architecture of Christ’s College. The family coat of arms, the portcullis of the Beaufort family, the red rose, the badge adopted by Henry VII as the first Tudor king, the white Marguerite (daisy) that was Lady Margaret’s personal emblem and the family motto “Souvent me souvient” (“I often remember”) are found on walls, over doorways and in monumental format over The Great Gate, the entrance into Christ’s College that still boasts its original 1509 oak door.

Cambridge University art historian Dr Christina Faraday said: “This is a really exciting and unusual discovery.” […]

Dr Faraday, who specialises in Tudor visual and material culture, said the works revealed “the ways that the college celebrated and advertised its royal patron during the early years of the 16th Century, following its re-founding”.

“A powerful and pious woman, with a keen interest in scholarship, Lady Margaret left her indelible mark on the college,” Dr Faraday said.

“The wall paintings are an early example of her family’s savvy use of visual ‘branding’ even beyond the royal court. Henry VII had a very weak claim to the throne, but became adept at using visual symbols like this to promote his kingship.”

It’s rare for murals like these to survive centuries of refurbishments. They were inexpensive decorations to begin with so there was little incentive to go to the trouble of preserving them when changes were made to the buildings. Researchers checked the archives after the murals were rediscovered and the last eye-witness account of the wall paintings was recorded in around 1738.

The paintings were preserved by benign neglect thanks to their covered location in the roof. That location also means they won’t go on display, unfortunately. They will, however, be restored and stabilized in situ.

The remains of feasting have been discovered at an early medieval cemetery near Barry, South Wales. The cemetery dates to the sixth and seventh centuries and contains an estimated 80 graves. Fragments of animal bone, some cooked and bearing the marks of butchery, and of expensive glass drinking vessels imported from western France indicate feasting rituals took place by the graves.

A team of archaeologists and students from Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion excavated the site on the grounds of Fonmon Castle this summer after a 2021 geophysical survey revealed the presence of archaeological remains. They expected to find structures associated with a farmstead, but the excavation instead unearthed burials of different types, including stone-lined cists and crouch burials.

So far, 18 of the burials have been excavated and examined. Four of them are crouch burials, which is a high proportion compared to other cemeteries from the period. All of the crouch burials were placed on their right side facing south and also happen to all be female. The consistency of these practices suggest that certain people were buried in keeping with specific rituals, perhaps related to their position or role in the community.

Dr Andy Seaman, Lecturer in Early Medieval Archaeology, said: “This is a really exciting discovery. Sites of this date are extremely rare in Wales and often do not preserve bone and artefacts. The Fonmon cemetery will allow us to discover so much about the people who lived here around 1,400 years ago.

“Other similar sites have found bodies in crouched positions such as this, but considering the number of graves we have looked at so far, there seem to be a high proportion. This could be evidence of some sort of burial rite being carried out.”

He added: “There is nothing to suggest that people were living near the site, so the evidence of cooking and glasses certainly suggests some level of ritual feasting, perhaps to celebrate or mourn the dead.”

Fonmon Castle was constructed in the late 12th century, so the cemetery long pre-dates it and was probably unknown to the St John family who built the castle. The excavations are ongoing and are planned to continue over the next several summers.