Dig Into History – April 2019

42

Whose Burial?

Despite the lack of skeletons, the gra

goods did tell us something about th

identities of the people buried there.

The oval brooches, as well as the box

and its contents, suggested that a

female had been buried in Grave 1.

Graves 1 and 2 both contained

shears and a comb. Grave 2 also

had a necklace with eight beads, a

ring on the upper chest, and a small

arm-ring that suggested the person

had a slender wrist. In Scandinavia,

these objects usually are associated w

the graves of important women.

In contrast, Graves 3, 4, 5, and 6

contained weapons, swords, and

spears. Also found within was an axe,

as well as the metalboss

shield. Other finds include

pins for fastening cloaks,

and knives. Only a few pi

of jewelry were found. We

cannot be certain, but, in

Scandinavia, Viking-Age

women rarely were buried

with weapons. Therefore,

graves probably once held

A Widely Connected Family?

All the objects found in Grave 1 seem to be very

“Scandinavian.” Since the grave was farther away

from the others, we wondered whether this

woman was buried first, with fewer objects from

her new home, or was she different, perhaps

stricter in keeping with Scandinavian fashions.

The other graves are very close together. The

objects within are similar, suggesting that those

buried within may have been family members or

somehow related. Or, they could have all died

around the same time and not over a period of

many years.

ommon feature found in

ves 2, 4, 5, and 6 is metal

ings. These belonged to belts

hat had been decorated in a

ocal style, suggesting their

owners may have acquired

them in the surrounding area.

The other objects, however,

came from a variety of places.

he seax (“large knife”), spurs,

nd textiles were probably all

de in Britain. The sword in

e 3 had a handle that might

ave come from mainland

Europe. It was decorated,

however, with a silver wire

design that is normally found in

rthern Britain and

the sword may have

overseas, but it was

ably decorated in

ain. The axe, some of

e spearheads, and

he oval brooches were

obably all made in

dinavia.

Discoveries In Cumwhitton

The historical sources tell us little about the area

where the people buried in the graves lived. They

do tell of the surrounding kingdoms. To the south

,

froma

ed ringed-

spurs,

ieces

e

d

these

dmen.

g

parts of nor

Ireland. So,

come from

proba

Brita

th

th

pro

Scand

ave

he

x

l

with

manyyea

Aco

Grav

fitt

th

lo

o

t

T

c

T

an

mad

Grave

ha

A buckle, with some

sealskin still attached

These photos show one of

the uncovered brooches

from the top (above) and

the side (below).

Boss refers to a protruding feature on a work piece.