Animal Burials Unearthed in England

SHROPSHIRE, ENGLAND—Shropshire Live reports that the remains of three people and several animals have been found at the site of a church that could date to the Anglo-Saxon period. A flint was found in the ribs of a calf buried side-by-side with a pig. The remains of a large dog, which had died giving birth, was buried near six chickens. The team also uncovered a pig that may have been interred in a leather-covered wooden coffin. The bones of a pregnant goat, another dog, and what may be a large goose have also been found. “The bones don’t show any signs of butchery, and the animals appear to have been deliberately and carefully laid in the ground,” said archaeologist Janey Green of Baskerville Archaeological Services. “To find animals buried in consecrated ground is incredibly unusual because it would have been a big no-no,” Green explained. The bones may be linked to a nearby prehistoric burial mound, however, and once they have been dated, they will be reburied at the site. For more on the Anglo-Saxons, go to “Letter from England: Stronghold of the Kings in the North.”