Archaeologists find pre-historic migrants

10-28-2010

EXPERT analysis has shed new light on the history of Cirencester.

Scientists have examined the teeth of human remains found during an archeological dig.

They believe the people were not local, but had traveled here from the far south-west – probably Devon or Cornwall.

Also, they lived here before the Romans arrived in the early first century BC.

"This is of great regional significance, and it will generate national interest", said Edward Biddulph, senior project manager with Oxford Archaeology which conducted the dig.

Mr Biddulph gave details of his find in a talk o Cirencester Archaeological and Historical Society at the Ashcroft Centre, Cirencester.

"The excavation gave archaeologists a remarkable window into Cirencester’s prehistoric past, and provided a wealth of information about Cirencester before Corinium", said Mr Biddulph.

The human remains were both women, and they were found during excavations two years ago at a housing development at Kingshill

Skeleton in a burial site
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e56c1814a138.jpg[/atsimg]

Archaeologists investigate Barrrow in Kingshill
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/54528664f1ae.jpg[/atsimg]

Grooved pottery shard
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f8d87dcd3c58.jpg[/atsimg]

Comb, carved from a deer antler, found at the site
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9f17b50ac1ec.jpg[/atsimg]

www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk...

There will be a book published next year with the results of the analysis and story of the site by Oxford Archaeology, there must be a wealth of information and have been investigating this area a long time.

They believed the people found here were not local and may have come from Cornwall and Devon and lived there before the Romans came in the first century.

A women was buried with a cowhide and ceramic beaker in a small burial mound surrounded by a ditch was thought to be of high status. It is thought that the settlement was abandoned when Cirencester, or Corinium, was established as a town, they may have been re-housed or moved to a new town It looks to be a rich archeology find and if there was wealth there they could find much more in the future.

Thanks for the Flags and Stars, but I was hoping that some of you might post your thoughts on this discovery and interesting find.

I like the comb (not a helpful response, but I do like it.)

I wish they had more pictures, since this would give a better idea of what's there. However, scientists are reluctant to release TOO many pictures since they want to wait until they publish before making it all available.

I'll check tonight and see if there's something in a scholarly paper. We may be able to see more. The position and artifacts and barrow burial seem to indicate these women may have had high status.

More tonight! Gotta go see a dinosaur bone right now (and whack on it with a scribe. Stupid limestone.)

Okay, S+F and comment.

Pre-historic burials are always interesting, but why did they conclude she was a "migrant"? Devon/Cornwall are a stone's throw away from this site on the same island. It seemed more interesting that this woman was among the last vestiges of a native English lifestyle before Romanization.

reply to post by Byrd


Good luck Byrd, I did a pretty extensive search and wasn't able to come up with anything of value, you are right in that these things are held pretty close until the time that that publish, the problem with that as you know it can be years and by that time we forget about it.

I find it's the nature of this topic, we find these great articles and then nothing, makes it very hard to follow up, thanks for posting and maybe you will have better luck then I have had.

reply to post by Byrd

More tonight! Gotta go see a dinosaur bone right now (and whack on it with a scribe. Stupid limestone.)

Details Byrd, do you have a thread going on this topic, lucky you, would you mind if I came along for the ride?

Britain was home to a vibrant and international society well before The Romans invaded and migration seems to have been a common occurence.

Here is a link to a similar thread started by blupblup; www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Freeborn


Thanks for the link, I did follow that thread, Stonehenge is indeed a mystery, there is lot of speculation our there but I don't think they know the who's and hows, maybe they never will.

reply to post by Aquarius1


It shows that even though we know so little about the peoples of these islands from around this time they did however have quite an advanced and civilised society with established international trade links and fluid migration.

Britain was not the dark and barbaric land that is often portrayed by those that would have us believe that The Romans were the inventors of all things civilised.

I don't get it...why is it surprising or noteworthy that people in ancient times traveled around? Haven't we always known that? This is silly, it's like those dumb articles "Celebrities They're Just Like Us!" except it's "Our Ancestors They're Just Like Us!"

Of course people moved around. Even after nomadic society more or less died out, people would still move around for a lot of reasons: trading, simple curiosity, to gain or share knowledge. Maybe I missed something in the article though. I just don't see what the big deal is.

Another rushed day and a busy night.

There's lots of interesting things you can tell from bones and artifacts. For instance, they may have done an assay of some of the teeth -- water from different areas of the planet has different trace elements, and you can tell where someone is from (and often if they moved to another area) from the chemical composition of bones, hair, and teeth. In the case of women, they may have been part of a bride exchange (or have come as servants to a person of higher status.)

Non-nomadic tribal people (folks who live in villages) usually don't travel very far from home. So it's interesting when we see people from further away coming into an area... it could point to a war in their home region or a wealthy ruler who asks for subchiefs to send children as hostages/wives or a number of other things. If you get the chance, the interesting follow-up question is "was there anything going on at the place these people came from?"

Sometimes, clues like this point to some very interesting things (like epidemics.)

Originally posted by Aquarius1
Thanks for the Flags and Stars, but I was hoping that some of you might post your thoughts on this discovery and interesting find.

Hi,

Got to admit I'm a little puzzled on why this is so significant? As the crow flies this would be roughly 150 miles, not major issue if other settlements existed in between, or from Cornwall perhaps by water upwards by side of coast to the inlet close to Gloucestershire. Interesting but not sure what it actually tells us that I'm guessing means nothing more than people were more than inclined to stray from their own patch?

reply to post by something wicked


Every find is significant, you never know where it will lead and tie into in the future, we don't alway find a smoking gun, it's baby steps.

Thanks for posting.

Very interesting

thanks for posting, not sure what I can add.. it is a period of history that I find interesting.. in my neck of the woods I was taught all the Hill forts where abandoned about 50 years before Romans arrived, and no one knows why

Edit to add; Hill Forts around here (Sussex)