SALISBURY PLAIN, ENGLAND—The Guardian reports that an excavation next to Barrow Clump in southern England has uncovered the remains of a Saxon warrior who was buried in the sixth century A.D. The diggers included members of Operation Nightingale, a program that involves military veterans in archaeology. The Saxon soldier was buried wearing a belt buckle and carrying a knife and tweezers. His pattern-welded sword, lifted intact from the grave, still bears traces of its wood and leather scabbard. The condition of the artifacts surprised the researchers, led by Richard Osgood of the Defense Infrastructure Organization, since the site has been damaged by plowing, badgers, and the moving of heavy equipment from the nearby military base. He suspects the Saxon occupants of the cemetery lived in a village in the valley below the hill. “It’s that Saxon thing of looking up the hill and knowing your ancestors are up there on a site that was already ancient and special,” he said. To read about the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon feasting hall, go to “The Kings of Kent.”
