File photo.
Archaeologists believe that the rare discovery of 81 Anglo-Saxon coffins made from the hollowed-out trunks of oak trees may provide new insights into how people lived in the early days of Christianity in Britain.
The coffins, which date back to the 7th-9th centuries, were uncovered at a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon cemetery on a site called Great Ryburgh in Norfolk, eastern England, where six rare plank-lined graves were also found.
Examination of the bones and wood is taking place at the Northampton offices of the Museum of London Archaeology.
“Absolutely unique in this country. Finding wooden coffins of this period hasn’t happened before. It’s going to fill in an enormous amount of our knowledge of this period and that’s why historic England stepping in to help us with the funding, not only for the excavation but for the post-excavation work. The analysis, the research is going to be so important for us,” said project manager Mark Holmes.
Few Anglo-Saxon coffins survive because wood normally decays over time and evidence usually consists of staining in the ground from rotten wood.
The site at Great Ryburgh had a combination of acidic sand and alkaline water that allowed the skeletons and wooden graves to survive.
This is the first time examples of this type of coffin have been properly excavated and recorded by modern archaeologists in Britain.
The plank-lined graves are believed to be the earliest known examples in Britain.
Lead researcher on the Dig Jim Fairclough said, he hoped further analysis of the bones would reveal more of the individuals themselves.
“This is basically the first time they’ve been found preserved from this period in the U.K. There’s earlier Saxon cemeteries where there’s evidence wood was used in burials but all that remains is basically soil marks and staining where the wood has decayed. So, this is the first time, especially in an early Christian context, where the wood coffins have been preserved,” lead researcher Jim Fairclough said. — Jovic Bermas | UNTV News & Rescue
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