CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—According to a report in The Guardian, an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery made up of more than 60 graves was discovered in eastern England when several buildings constructed in the 1930s were demolished at King’s College. The cemetery was surrounded by ditches dug before the Romans withdrew from England in the fifth century. “We already know that Cambridge wasn’t fully abandoned,” said medieval historian Caroline Goodson. “But what we’re seeing now is a greater and clearer picture of life in the post-Roman settlements.” Some 200 artifacts, including bronze brooches, bead necklaces, swords, short blades, pottery, and glass flasks recovered from the cemetery, have been dated to between A.D. 400 and 650. “They are no longer living as the Romans did,” Goodson explained, although some of the bodies had been buried with what appear to be late Roman objects. The researchers will attempt to recover DNA from the remains and analyze the chemical composition of the bones in order to investigate family relationships, past migrations, and health status, including possible infection with the Justinianic plague in the 540s, she added. To read about 6,000 years of history uncovered in Cambridgeshire during work on the A14 construction project, go to "Letter from England: Building a Road Through History."
