Latest news with #HeadlandArchaeology
Scottish Sun
15 hours ago
- General
- Scottish Sun
Abandoned UK villages wiped out 700 years ago are uncovered in major roadworks with hoard of spears, flutes & buckles
It is believed the villages were abandoned after the Black Death FROZEN IN TIME Abandoned UK villages wiped out 700 years ago are uncovered in major roadworks with hoard of spears, flutes & buckles Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ABANDONED medieval villages have been uncovered during roadworks on the A47. The settlements are believed to have been abandoned after the Black Death - with residents fleeing to bigger urban areas. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 A metal spearheads used for hunting and battles was one of the finds at the site Credit: Headland Archaeology 2 Another of the artefact's uncovered by archeologists was this bone flute Credit: Headland Archaeology The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, swept the UK between 1848 and 1350, killing an estimated 35-40 per cent of the population - though estimates are much higher in some areas. The discoveries were made by archaeologists during work to convert 5.5 miles of road between Easton and North Tuddenham into a dual-carriageway. The dig is helping to reveal the mysteries of the inhabitants of these medieval villages, with metal spearheads, buckles and a bone flute among the artefacts uncovered. Headland Archaeology, which carried out the work for National Highways, also found 31kg of pottery. The site was cleared using everything from 13-tonne mechanical excavators and dump trucks to more precision hand tools. A selection of finds from the site are due to be displayed at the National Highways' stall at this week's Royal Norfolk Show, on Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26. Kate Bain, project manager at Headland Archaeology, told the Eastern Daily Press that such villages would once have been widespread. She said: "These villages, which would have been recognisable all the way through the landscape like little hamlets, disappeared as people fled to urban settlements, leaving them behind." Chris Griffin, A47 project lead for National Highways, said that while the roadworks were primarily about improving road safety, they also offered a chance for historians to find out more about 'the wonderfully rich cultural heritage' of Norfolk. He added: "When we started the work, we wanted to make sure we brought in the expertise to add one more piece to the historical puzzle of the landscape. Ancient Tomb Discovery Reveals Stunning Tang Dynasty Murals "These finds will help us understand the past and learn about what we are today." The 'dualing' work on the A47 commenced last year, while work has also begun on improvements to the A47/A11 Thickthorn junction, on the edge of Norwich. Norfolk has been a rich area of study for archeologists over the years. In 2019 the oldest human footprints ever found outside of Africa were spotted on a British beach in the county. The line of footprints were thought to have been trampled onto the coast of Happisburgh 950,000 years ago and are likely to have been left by one of the earliest known varieties of human called Homo antecessor. Archaeological enthusiast and photographer Paul Macro discovered the marks on the beach while working for a company that was scanning the area. He found them in a spot where a similar ancient footprint and tool discovery occurred back in 2013. The foorprints were discovered in May 2013 in a newly uncovered sediment layer of the Cromer Forest Bed and photographed in 3D before being destroyed by the tide shortly afterwards.
The Sun
15 hours ago
- The Sun
Abandoned UK villages wiped out 700 years ago are uncovered in major roadworks with hoard of spears, flutes & buckles
ABANDONED medieval villages have been uncovered during roadworks on the A47. The settlements are believed to have been abandoned after the Black Death - with residents fleeing to bigger urban areas. 2 The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, swept the UK between 1848 and 1350, killing an estimated 35-40 per cent of the population - though estimates are much higher in some areas. The discoveries were made by archaeologists during work to convert 5.5 miles of road between Easton and North Tuddenham into a dual-carriageway. The dig is helping to reveal the mysteries of the inhabitants of these medieval villages, with metal spearheads, buckles and a bone flute among the artefacts uncovered. Headland Archaeology, which carried out the work for National Highways, also found 31kg of pottery. The site was cleared using everything from 13-tonne mechanical excavators and dump trucks to more precision hand tools. A selection of finds from the site are due to be displayed at the National Highways' stall at this week's Royal Norfolk Show, on Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26. Kate Bain, project manager at Headland Archaeology, told the Eastern Daily Press that such villages would once have been widespread. She said: "These villages, which would have been recognisable all the way through the landscape like little hamlets, disappeared as people fled to urban settlements, leaving them behind." Chris Griffin, A47 project lead for National Highways, said that while the roadworks were primarily about improving road safety, they also offered a chance for historians to find out more about 'the wonderfully rich cultural heritage' of Norfolk. He added: "When we started the work, we wanted to make sure we brought in the expertise to add one more piece to the historical puzzle of the landscape. Ancient Tomb Discovery Reveals Stunning Tang Dynasty Murals "These finds will help us understand the past and learn about what we are today." The 'dualing' work on the A47 commenced last year, while work has also begun on improvements to the A47/A11 Thickthorn junction, on the edge of Norwich. Norfolk has been a rich area of study for archeologists over the years. In 2019 the oldest human footprints ever found outside of Africa were spotted on a British beach in the county. The line of footprints were thought to have been trampled onto the coast of Happisburgh 950,000 years ago and are likely to have been left by one of the earliest known varieties of human called Homo antecessor. Archaeological enthusiast and photographer Paul Macro discovered the marks on the beach while working for a company that was scanning the area. He found them in a spot where a similar ancient footprint and tool discovery occurred back in 2013. The foorprints were discovered in May 2013 in a newly uncovered sediment layer of the Cromer Forest Bed and photographed in 3D before being destroyed by the tide shortly afterwards.
The Irish Sun
15 hours ago
- General
- The Irish Sun
Abandoned UK villages wiped out 700 years ago are uncovered in major roadworks with hoard of spears, flutes & buckles
ABANDONED medieval villages have been uncovered during roadworks on the A47. The settlements are believed to have been abandoned after the Black Death - with residents fleeing to bigger urban areas. 2 A metal spearheads used for hunting and battles was one of the finds at the site Credit: Headland Archaeology 2 Another of the artefact's uncovered by archeologists was this bone flute Credit: Headland Archaeology The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, swept the UK between 1848 and 1350, killing an estimated 35-40 per cent of the population - though estimates are much higher in some areas. The discoveries were made by archaeologists during work to convert 5.5 miles of road between Easton and North Tuddenham into a dual-carriageway. The dig is helping to reveal the mysteries of the inhabitants of these medieval villages, with metal spearheads, buckles and a bone flute among the artefacts uncovered. Headland Archaeology, which carried out the work for Read more on News The site was cleared using everything from 13-tonne mechanical excavators and dump trucks to more precision hand tools. A selection of finds from the site are due to be displayed at the National Highways' stall at this week's Royal Norfolk Show, on Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26. Kate Bain, project manager at Headland Archaeology, told the She said: "These villages, which would have been recognisable all the way through the landscape like little hamlets, disappeared as people fled to urban settlements, leaving them behind." Most read in The Sun Chris Griffin, A47 project lead for National Highways, said that while the roadworks were primarily about improving road safety, they also offered a chance for historians to find out more about 'the wonderfully rich cultural heritage' of Norfolk. He added: "When we started the work, we wanted to make sure we brought in the expertise to add one more piece to the historical puzzle of the landscape. Ancient Tomb Discovery Reveals Stunning Tang Dynasty Murals "These finds will help us understand the past and learn about what we are today." The 'dualing' work on the A47 commenced last year, while work has also begun on improvements to the A47/A11 Thickthorn junction, on the edge of Norwich. Norfolk has been a rich area of study for archeologists over the years. In 2019 the oldest human footprints ever found outside of Africa The line of footprints were thought to have been trampled onto the coast of Happisburgh 950,000 years ago and are likely to have been left by one of the earliest known varieties of human called Homo antecessor. Archaeological enthusiast and photographer Paul Macro discovered the marks on the beach while working for a company that was scanning the area. He found them in a spot where a similar ancient footprint and tool discovery occurred back in 2013. The foorprints were discovered in May 2013 in a newly uncovered sediment layer of the Cromer Forest Bed and photographed in 3D before being destroyed by the tide shortly afterwards.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Are Stumped After Finding a Peculiar Liquid Burial in an Ancient Roman Cemetery
During a British highway project, a team of archaeologists uncovered a Roman-era central burial with 21 additional grave cuts. The central grave includes a coffin carved from solid limestone and a gypsum-encased burial. The process, most common in Roman Britain, created a hardened cast, but experts aren't sure the reasoning. Travelers on the A47 highway in Britain have been zipping past a uniquely Roman-era burial practice for years without even knowing it. But during recent roadwork, a team of archaeologists from Headland Archaeology discovered not only a small cemetery near a section of a Roman-era road, but the uniquely peculiar burial practice of encasing the deceased in liquid gypsum. Gypsum, a natural mineral made largely of calcium sulfate dihydrate, has a variety of uses dating back centuries, from lining walls to serve as a fire retardant for Mesopotamians to a plaster popular for use in the construction of pyramids by the ancient Egyptians. And, apparently, for the Romans covering their dead in the liquid form—which included mixing the gypsum in water. Just why the Romans did this, though, remains a mystery. The experts that made the discovery found that the natural properties of gypsum hardened and formed a plaster-like casing, creating imprints of the body and sometimes preserving fabrics. At the most recent find near Cambridgeshire, the site features additional 14 grave cuts centered around a central grave, plus an additional seven graves nearby. The central grave featured a single stone coffin carved from a solid block of limestone, and the burial inside was the gypsum-encased find. Locating a gypsum burial outside of a city center isn't common. While Roman gypsum burials have been seen across Europe and North Africa, they are particularly common in Britain—and especially York—according to a previous statement from the University of York, which notes at least 45 burials of this type in York have been recorded since the late 19th century. But this find isn't in York—it's in a rural area, adding intrigue to a Roman-era burial sometime between 42 and 410 A.D. While the gypsum didn't survive as one complete piece, the fragments still offered impressions of the burial shroud and even preserved a small piece of the fabric the individual was buried in. There were no grave goods found in the coffin, but the archaeologists did find a glass vessel and fragments of leather, pottery, and animal bone nearby. Headland Archaeology believed the glass vessel may have once held a 'toast or libation for the deceased' before it was placed in the grave. 'Despite the lack of grave goods, both the beautifully carved stone coffin and the gypsum burial are indicative of an individual of high status,' Headland wrote. 'The gypsum for the burial would have come at a high cost, and the stone coffin was not only beautifully carved, but also made from stone quarried around 50 kilometers [31 miles] away, adding the costs of transportation. These factors coupled with the central position of the burial within the cemetery points to an important person, perhaps the head of a prominent family.' Other finds in the cemetery include large quantities of jewelry. One grave featured what experts believe was a woman roughly 16 to 20 years old buried with what could have been items meant for her dowry, including a pair of silver earrings, nine copper alloy bracelets, three copper alloy rings, and a silver band and oval plate likely part of a signet ring. Another grave featured the remains of a child and had 10 copper alloy bracelets, four worked bone bracelets, a bone comb, and a pair of silver earrings like the earrings found in a different grave. Headland believes the similarity in jewelry could show a distinct style from the local craftspeople. Also remarkable was the vast diversity of burial types at the cemetery, from the stone coffin with the gypsum to cist burials, cremation, decapitation burials, infant burial, and burials that likely happened in a wooden coffin thanks to the presence of iron nails. 'It is hoped that the post-excavation analysis will be able to untangle the questions surrounding the longevity of the cemetery and how it fits into the surrounding landscape,' Headland wrote, 'as well as shedding some light on the individual stories of those buried here.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
