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Bodies Under The Flightpath |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Friday, 28 May 2004 |
28 May 2004
A Family buried in North Lincolnshire around 1,700 years ago may have been among the first Christians in Britain.
Five skeletons, one believed to be that of a teenager, have been unearthed by archaeologists called in to carry out an excavation at Humberside Airport. The find results from work involved in digging out the route of a 21st-century taxiway, which will eventually serve a new hangar building.
A team of archaeologists investigating the remains have logged them as some of our third or fourth-century Roman ancestors.
Project officer Chris Clay said he thought the skeletons were probably Roman, dating back to around 300AD and the orientation of the grave indicated it could be a Christian burial.
He said it was not a dramatic discovery - they were poor peasants, and possibly one family - but the find was 'interesting' and shed light on North Lincolnshire's rich historical past.
"They were all in a row, which we think means they were probably a family group, and they were all lined east-to-west ... which suggests they were probably a Christian group," he explained.
"They were just skeletons and nothing was with them, so they were probably poor. They are likely to be peasants. It is probably a family plot."
The Roman Empire officially became Christian in 312AD with 'The Edict of Milan', explained Dr Kevin Leahy, curator of North Lincolnshire Museum.
Dr Leahy said it was exciting news and he was awaiting the archaeologists' full report.
He commented: "We always like to see work carried out at Kirmington, which was a very important Roman and Iron Age settlement.
"There was a first-century Roman fort on the airport site - the outline of the ditches was captured by aerial photography - but it has not been excavated."
Mr Clay is a professional archaeologist with Pre-Construct Archaeology (Lincoln) of Saxilby, a commercial specialist called in to excavate sites prior to major construction projects like roads, supermarkets or airport runways.
He explained they went in to search for evidence and remains of settlements. This was their first project at Humberside Airport.
"What we have found so far is a series of ditches, which we think indicate field systems," he commented.
"There was pottery in the ditches which we think relates to settlements nearby."
He said the five skeletons had been sent away for tests to determine the age, sex and cause of death - whether due to illness, accident or violence.
He thought the bones would eventually go into the archive of Scunthorpe's North Lincolnshire Museum.
So would other objects found by his team, pieces of pottery, animal bones and oyster shells, likely to have been discarded as 'rubbish' in their time. Mr Clay said: "It is an interesting find and it adds a little bit more to our knowledge of the area in that period.
"It is interesting because it gives us an idea of where a settlement is and where the field boundaries are."
He said the team was due to return next month when work began on excavating a site for a new hangar.
http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=56019&command=displayContent&sourceNode=56018&contentPK=10127915 |
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