Is this Britain’s first Christian burial? Anglo Saxon grave reveals 16-year-old girl laid to rest with a gold cross

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Laid to rest in her best clothes and lying on an ornamental bed, she was probably of noble blood. Quite how the 16-year-old Anglo Saxon girl died and who she was remain a mystery. But she was buried wearing a gold cross – suggesting she was one of Britain’s earliest Christians.

The skeleton and Christian cross as they were found in Trumpington Meadows, Cambs - a site which has been confirmed as one of the UK's earliest Christian burial sitesThe skeleton and Christian cross as they were found in Trumpington Meadows, Cambs – a site which has been confirmed as one of the UK’s earliest Christian burial sites

Scientists have discovered the remains of one of Britain's first ever Christians after unearthing a rare 1,400 year old Anglo-Saxon burial siteScientists have discovered the remains of one of Britain’s first ever Christians after unearthing a rare 1,400 year old Anglo-Saxon burial site

The discovery could force experts to rethink the history of religion in Britain The discovery could force experts to rethink the history of religion in Britain

BRITAIN IN THE DARK AGES

Life was relatively peaceful during the seventh century, historians believe.

Most Anglo-Saxons were farmers, living in wooden shacks, growing wheat and barley, and raising sheep and cows. At this stage, they ignored Roman towns such a London and lived in small settlements of a few families.

The average lifespan was about 45 but while many children were struck down by disease, an adult could live to 60 or even 70, especially if they were nobles or lived quiet lives in monasteries or nunneries.

Although the Vikings were starting to plunder England’s west coast, this would not have worried the people of Cambridge, which was then made up of tribes. In the next century it would alternate between the kings of East Anglia and Mercia.

England was actually being re-converted to Christianity. The Romans had tried 200 years earlier, but it didn’t last long and was largely forgotten.

This time, the seventh century kings and nobles were on board. For a noblewoman who did not want to marry – or had escaped a marriage – the church may have been a good choice.

Dr Sam Lewsey believes the woman was probably struck down young by an illness, such as the plague, which may have taken the lives of the other three bodies at the same time.

She said: ‘This was a peaceful time, people were healthy, they were well-fed and reasonably prosperous, some of them very prosperous. There is a misconception that the Anglo-Saxons were not sophisticated.’

Although there are no written sources from the Dark Ages, archaeology has shown that the Anglo-Saxons produced stunning and intricate jewellery such as this cross, and the amazing hoard from Sutton Hoo in Staffordshire.

They were probably mining silver and gold in England, and trading other commodities across Europe and Asia.

Her well-preserved 1,400-year-old grave has been discovered by Cambridge University scientists, who described the find as ‘astonishing’.

The burial site at Trumpington Meadows, a village near Cambridge, indicates Christianity had already taken root in the area as early as the middle of the 7th century.

It was not long after St Augustine, a monk in Rome, was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the English in the year 595.

Starting in Kent, his team of 40 missionaries slowly worked their way around the country and he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury two years later.

But progress is thought to have been slow and sometimes difficult, and Christians and pagans co-existed for many decades.

The new find gives an insight into this transition period as she was also buried with a knife and glass beads to use in the next life – a pagan tradition of ‘grave goods’ which goes against Christian beliefs. Dr Sam Lewsey, an expert in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, said: ‘This is an excessively rare discovery. It is the most amazing find I have ever encountered.

‘Christian conversion began at the top and percolated down. To be buried in this elaborate way, with such a valuable artefact, tells us that this girl was probably nobility or even royalty. This cross is the kind of material culture that was in circulation at the highest sphere of society.’

The grave is one of 13 Anglo Saxon ‘bed burials’ to be discovered. Usually reserved for noble women, they involved being laid to rest on a wood and metal frame topped with a straw mattress. Such burials are not found after the 7th century.

The girl’s inch-wide gold cross, studded with cut garnets, has been dated to between 650 and 680AD.

It was probably sewn into her clothing around the neck and may have been worn in her daily life.  Four graves were found at the site, the others containing an individual in their 20s whose gender is unknown, and two girls in their late teens, who had no religious signs.

It raises the question of whether the woman buried with the cross had an official role in the fledgling Christian church.


It is believed the girl, from the 7th century AD, was a member of nobility, persuaded to join the Christian faith after the Pope dispatched St Augustine to England in 597AD

The grave, in Trumpington Meadows, Cambs is examined by an expert The grave, in Trumpington Meadows, Cambs is examined by an expert

Shows: Pulling cross from the ground. The grave of a teenage girl from the 7th century AD has startled archaeologists Shows: Pulling cross from the ground. The grave of a teenage girl from the 7th century AD has startled archaeologists

Researchers will be doing tests on the bones to establish how the girl died, what her diet may have been and what medical condition she was in. Alison Dickens, who led the excavation for the University’s archaeological unit, said it was a ‘truly astonishing discovery’.

She added: ‘If and how she relates to the other three graves is a key aspect of our investigation – whether they are family, for example, as such a small set of graves is unusual, even before we get to the bed and cross.

‘The mysteries of who she  was, why she was here, and why  her grave merited such lavish  treatment have certainly captured our imagination.’

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