Earliest Human Remains from Leicestershire reveal a bloody end

Submitted by vicky on Wednesday, 31 March 2004 Page Views: 2004

Analysis of human remains found during archaeological work carried out by University of Leicester Archaeological Services has established that they are the earliest remains ever to be found in the county - and that they met with violent deaths!

Experts from the leading research and teaching department have just completed investigations on remains that had been found eight years ago in a gravel quarry near Watermead Country Park, Birstall.

A series of scientific tests undertaken this year have come up with some gruesome results.

The remains, including two skulls, vertebrae and long bones, were found together in a peat deposit - originally an old channel of the River Soar - during gravel quarrying. Radiocarbon dating has provided surprising results: although found together the bodies had been deposited in the marsh 2000 years apart! The remains of two individuals - a male and a female - were dated from the Early Neolithic (around 3000BC), the earliest known human remains from the county. The skull and upper vertebra from another person were found to date from around 800BC during the Bronze Age.

How and why did these remains end up here? Analysis at the University of York and the British Museum have concluded that before the bodies were disposed of the blood supply was cut off quickly - perhaps pointing to their being put to death. More tangible evidence was found on the vertebra of the Bronze Age individual. Here cut marks showed that the person's throat had been cut by a knife.

Susan Ripper the Site Director said: "These are remarkable if somewhat gruesome discoveries. The evidence suggests the people suffered from violent deaths, and soon after death the bodies were placed in a waterlogged area alongside the river."

These weren't the only discoveries made on the site. In addition to the evidence of human sacrifice there is a very early 'burnt mound' dating from the late Neolithic period (about 2500-2000BC). These sites comprise mounds of heat cracked stones which would have been used to boil water in a circular wooden trough. Why they wanted to boil a large amount of water remains unclear. No cooking debris was found (bones, pots etc.), so the site may have been used to cook food that was eaten elsewhere or for something like wool processing, steaming withies for basket making or possibly even as 'saunas'.

A series of timber uprights for a footbridge crossing the marsh were also found during the fieldwork. Radiocarbon dating showed this to date from around AD500 showing it to be the only early Anglo-Saxon bridge known in Britain.

Dr Patrick Clay, Director of University of Leicester Archaeological Services commented:

"This is a remarkable discovery literally from the jaws of the gravel excavators. The cut marks indicate that one person appears to have been deliberately killed around 800BC. There is evidence of people being sacrificed and their bodies being cast into marshes or bogs from Britain and Europe, notably Denmark, from this time onwards. Lindow Man, found in Cheshire in 1980, is an example of this. The Neolithic date for two of the individuals, also suffering a sudden death and being found in the same location is intriguing. Is this human sacrifice being practiced 2000 years earlier? If so, it is the earliest known from Britain."

The fieldwork was funded by the University of Leicester, Leicestershire County Council, Charnwood Borough Council and Ennemix Construction Materials. The analysis was funded by a grant from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. A touring display is being prepared by Leicestershire County Council, Heritage Services.

Source: University of Leicester 31/03/2004

Contributor Bio for vicky: Ex Megalithic Portal Editor, Co-author of 'Rock Around the Peak - Megalithic Monuments of the Peak District' and... More

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