OXFORD, ENGLAND—The remains of a young woman were unearthed from a shallow grave in an area designated for gardens and buildings on historic maps. A Charles I silver shilling found near her shoulder is thought to have been placed on her eyes before she was put in a burial shroud held in place with pins. The coin was struck at the Tower Mint in 1640 or 1641 and suggests that the woman may have come from a prosperous family, but finding the remains of a wealthy person of the period buried outside a cemetery is highly unusual. “At present we have one young adult female burial that potentially dates from the English Civil War,” Carl Champness of Oxford Archaeology South told Culture 24. Archaeologists speculate that she may have died during the siege of Oxford, when a more formal burial may have been difficult. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of the bones could provide more information. To read in-depth about a site that tells the story of the evolution of England's culture over the course of thousands of years, see "The Scientist's Garden."
