Possible Remains of Anglo-Saxon Princess Analyzed

News March 6, 2020

(Courtesy Andrew Richardson, Canterbury Archaeological Trust)
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England Eanswythe Remains
(Courtesy Andrew Richardson, Canterbury Archaeological Trust)

FOLKESTONE, ENGLAND—According to a report in The Independent, researchers led by Andrew Richardson of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust have examined and dated human remains from a church in southeast England. The study found that the bones belonged to a young woman who died between the ages of 17 and 21 in the mid-seventh century A.D. An examination of her teeth indicates she ate a refined diet, and her bones show little sign of injury. Researchers plan to analyze DNA samples from the remains to try to detect any possible traces of disease or connection to a royal lineage, because tradition suggests the bones could be the remains of Eanswythe, daughter of the Anglo-Saxon king Eadbald. The princess is remembered as a devout Christian who founded England’s first nunnery after she refused to marry, and died in her late teens or early twenties, possibly of bubonic plague. Her remains were moved several times before they were hidden in the church’s wall in the sixteenth century, when the Church of England was established and the veneration of saints fell out of favor. The bones were found in the church wall in the late nineteenth century and have since been stored in a special wall niche. To read about Anglo-Saxon kings in the fifth century A.D., go to "The Kings of Kent."

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