SUFFOLK, ENGLAND—The East Anglian Daily Times reports that archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology uncovered traces of a cremation pyre in the East of England, near the coast of the North Sea. The blackened soil and pieces of burnt bone were found within a ring ditch, which had once been covered by a mound that was destroyed by agricultural plowing. Most of the human remains were likely transferred to an urn for burial at another location. The pyre has not yet been dated, but the researchers suspect it dates to the Bronze Age, since another cremation at the site has been dated to that period. Charcoal and burnt plant material in the soil will also be analyzed for more information about the ritual, the status of the individual, the fuel used, and the local environment at the time. To read about cherries thrown onto a cremation grave in Serbia almost 9,000 years ago, go to "A Passion for Fruit: Funeral Fruit."
