GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND—Live Science reports that two Bronze Age burials situated within a circular ditch were unearthed in southwestern England by a team including Andy Hood of Foundations Archaeology. The first burial, placed in the center of the circle, contained the remains of a possible chieftain, who had been placed in the grave on his side in a crouched position. The skulls and hooves of four cattle, a copper dagger with a whale-bone pommel, a stone wrist guard, an amber bead, and a flint and iron pyrite for starting fires were also found in the grave. The second grave, found near the first, held the remains of an older man placed in a seated position, and the skull and hooves of one animal. Radiocarbon dating of the burials indicates the men lived around 4,200 years ago, and the artifacts in both burials indicate the men might have been members of the Beaker culture. “One of the mysteries is, what was the relationship between those two men?” Hood asked. He explained that the chieftain’s burial is the only such burial in Britain to hold the parts of multiple cattle. “It’s quite a significant investment of wealth to go into the ground.” He added that the older man’s seated burial is also considered to be unusual. “We haven’t found a direct parallel elsewhere in Bronze Age Britain.” To read about 6,000 years of English history uncovered during highway construction in Cambridgeshire, go to "Letter from England: Building a Road Through History."
