CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—Cambridge News reports that an Anglo-Saxon settlement was discovered during the construction of a new housing development. Brooches, glass and amber beads, rings, and hairpins dating to the sixth century A.D. were uncovered, in addition to tools, weaponry, and the remains of buildings. The excavation team from Oxford Archaeology East also recovered pottery vessels and a glass drinking vessel with claw-shaped decorations. Such “claw beakers” are usually found in areas to the southeast, and in northern France, the Netherlands, and Germany, where they are thought to have been made. “Evidence of the time period ... is almost nonexistent, so this gives us a highly important window into understanding how people lived in that era, their trade activities and behaviors,” said Duncan Hawkins of CgMs Archaeology. The team also found artifacts dating back to the Roman era. To read in-depth about evidence of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, go to “Letter from England: Stronghold of the Kings in the North.”
