1,500-year-old bucket with human bones found inside was cremation burial vessel, archaeologists say
The 6th-century bucket was found at Sutton Hoo, an archaeological site near Suffolk, England, that is home to two ancient cemeteries. Fragments of the bucket, named the Bromeswell bucket, were first found in 1986. Researchers found more pieces of the relic last year during an excavation by Time Team, a British TV show where archaeologists conduct excavations on-camera.
An analysis of the newly-discovered pieces determined that Time Team had found the entire base of the bucket, and that it contained human bone fragments, the National Trust, a U.K.-based conservation organization, said in a news release. The bones included part of an ankle bone and fragments of a skull, which the National Trust said was proof of an "early Anglo-Saxon cremation burial."
Some of the pieces of the Bromeswell Bucket on display.
David Brunetti, National Trust Images
Angus Wainwright, a National Trust archaeologist, said in the news release that the burial appeared to be "very special," and that researchers will conduct further analysis.
There were also animal bones inside the bucket, which is made of copper alloy and is decorated with a hunting scene. The National Trust said the bones were larger than those of a pig, and noted that horses were often included on funeral pyres as a symbol of status during this time. The bones will undergo radiocarbon dating, the National Trust said.
"We knew that this bucket would have been a rare and prized possession back in Anglo-Saxon times, but it's always been a mystery why it was buried," Wainwright said. "Now we know it was used to contain the remains of an important person in the Sutton Hoo community."
The bucket base, with bone fragments and the double-sided comb to the left.
FAS Heritage
The bucket was made in the Byzantine Empire and may have been a diplomatic gift or acquired by a mercenary Saxon soldier, the National Trust said. The vessel is decorated with a scene of men armed with swords and shields. The scene also includes lions and dogs. The newest fragments help complete the picture, showing feet, paws, the base of shields and the face of one hunting man.
Also inside the bucket was a double-sided comb that the National Trust said was likely made from antler. The agency said its researchers hope ancient DNA can be recovered from the object. The item was not burned in the cremation process, the National Trust noted. The inclusion of such combs in other burial sites suggest that "personal appearance and grooming was important to the Anglo-Saxons." The comb could also have been used to control lice, the trust said.
Plant remains were found during the excavation of the bucket pieces. Analysis of those pieces could "reveal more about the climate and seasonality around the time the bucket was buried," the National Trust said.
Time Team aired a documentary about the discovery and year-long analysis project earlier in May. The group will conduct more research at Sutton Hoo through mid-June.
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When the team discovered the Australopithecus teeth during two separate digs in 2018 and 2020, it compared them with species such as afarensis and another hominin group known as garhi, but they didn't match up. Instead, the scientists believe the teeth belong to a previously unknown species of Australopithecus that walked the Earth after Lucy — and alongside an early Homo species. 'Once we found Homo, I thought that was all we would find, and then one day on survey, we found the Australopithecus teeth,' Reed said. 'What is most important, is that it shows again, that human evolution is not linear. There were species that went extinct; some were better adapted than others, and others interbred with us — we know this for Neanderthals for sure. So anytime that we have another piece to the puzzle of where we came from, it is important.' The teeth were found in Ethiopia's Afar region, a key place for researchers seeking answers about human evolution. A variety of preserved fossils have been found there as well as some of the earliest stone tools, Reed said. The Afar region is an active rifting environment — the tectonic plates beneath its earth are actively pulling apart and exposing older layers of sediment that shed light on almost 5 million years of evolution, Reed said. 'The continent is quite literally unzipping there, which creates a lot of volcanism and tectonics,' said study coauthor Christopher Campisano, associate director and associate professor at the Institute of Human Origins and associate professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State, in a video the school released. 'At 2 1⁄2, 3 million years ago, these volcanoes spewed out ash that contain crystals called feldspars that allow us to date the eruptions that were happening on the landscape when they're deposited.' 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A key feature helping archaeologists to understand humanity's evolution are structural basins, or 'bowls' on Earth's surface that naturally collect layers of sediment better than the surrounding landscape does — like the Turkana Basin stretching across southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya, Melillo said. Previous research has found evidence to suggest that Homo and Paranthropus coexisted there 1.5 million years ago. The new study focuses on the Afar Depression, a basin to the north of the Turkana. 'This contribution by Villmoare and colleagues demonstrates that in the Afar there was also some other species around with Homo — but it isn't Paranthropus,' Melillo said. 'Instead, they identify this 'non-Homo' genus as Australopithecus. They do a very convincing job of demonstrating why the new fossils are not Paranthropus.' The study adds to growing evidence that Australopithecus was not roaming the Afar Depression alone, she said. When Australopithecus and Homo were alive, the Afar Region, now mostly a semidesert, had much more seasonal variation in rainfall than it does today, Reed said. Millions of years ago, the environment there was still dominated by a dry season, but it was interrupted by a brief wet season. Rivers that carried water across the landscape existed for only part of the year. Few trees grew near the river, and the environment nearby was largely wetlands and grasslands. 'We have a fossil giraffe species that was eating grass, which probably indicates they were stressed as they eat trees and bushes almost every place else,' Reed said. 'Were the hominins eating the same thing? We are trying to find out by examining isotopes in their teeth and microscopic scratches on their teeth.' Understanding whether or not Homo and Australopithecus had the same food sources could paint a portrait of how our ancient ancestors shared or competed for resources, Reed said. The team also wants to try to identify which hominin made the stone tools found at the site. At the moment it's impossible to tell exactly how the two hominins coexisted, but Reed said she is hoping that future findings will provide more answers. 'Whenever you have an exciting discovery, if you're a paleontologist, you always know that you need more information,' Reed said. 'You need more fossils. More fossils will help us tell the story of what happened to our ancestors a long time ago — but because we're the survivors we know that it happened to us.' Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
