4,000-year-old Dartmoor burial find rewrites British Bronze Age history

[dipsydoodle]

Some 4,000 years ago people carried a young woman's cremated bones – charred scraps of her shroud and the wood from her funeral pyre still clinging to them – carefully wrapped in a fur, along with her most valuable possessions packed into a basket, up to one of the highest and most exposed spots on Dartmoor, and buried them in a small stone box covered by a mound of peat.

The discovery of her remains is rewriting the history of the Bronze Age moor. The bundle contained a treasury of unique objects, including a tin bead and 34 tin studs which are the earliest evidence of metal-working in the south-west, textiles including a unique nettle fibre belt with a leather fringe, jewellery including amber from the Baltic and shale from Whitby, and wooden ear studs which are the earliest examples of wood turning ever found in Britain.

The site chosen for her grave was no accident. At 600 metres above sea level, White Horse hill is still so remote that getting there today is a 45-minute walk across heather and bog, after a half-hour drive up a military track from the nearest road. The closest known prehistoric habitation site is far down in the valley below, near the grave of the former poet laureate Ted Hughes.

Analysing and interpreting one of the most intriguing burials ever found in Britain is now occupying scientists across several continents. A BBC documentary, Mystery of the Moor, was first intended only for local broadcast, but as the scale of the find became clear, it will now be shown nationally on BBC2 on 9 March.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/09/dartmoor-burial-site-bronze-age-history

[pipoman]

1. Cool story

I love ancient beads. .have a small collection. Probably the first body adornments used/made by man.

oh, and something to show your kids to demonstrate that ear gages are not a new thing.

[Stargazer09]

2. Incredible

I'm looking forward to seeing more about this story.

[WhiteTara]

3. I love lines like this

The jewellery and other conserved artefacts will feature in an exhibition later this year at Plymouth city museum, but although work continues on her bones, it is unlikely to answer the mystery of who she was, how she died, and why at such a young age she merited a burial fit for a queen.

Women haven't always been so denigrated as they are and have been for the past couple thousand years. I think the estimate is about 6 million women were murdered so we say god the father.

[MisterP]

11. 6M over what period of time?

[WhiteTara]

14. Couple thousand years.

You can read about the Jewish purge of the "idolators" where there was a great deal of slewing going on and ending with the burning times.

And the "mop up" operations of today are still going on.

[MisterP]

16. Starhawk?

[WhiteTara]

17. I'm honored but

but no.

You think she's the only person who knows about this?

[MisterP]

18. no--I meant what are the sources?

Last edited Sun Mar 9, 2014, 07:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Merlin Stone, right?

[WhiteTara]

19. try the bible. nt

[MisterP]

20. or a real history!

http://www.historyversusthedavincicode.com/chaptertwentyeight.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_witch-trials#Reception_in_feminism_and_neopaganism

[WhiteTara]

22. Why of course...you have the definitive authority.

Who could ever think that this person doesn't have the answers. Who could possibly argue with his vast and all knowingness. Thanks for bringing me to my senses. You are all knowing as well. Thank you for your great lesson is all ancient history.

[Botany]

4. also found a traditional English breakfast (still uneaten)

[theHandpuppet]

5. Looks great except for the baked beans

A side of grits or home fries would have been much better.

[ChazInAz]

7. Just got hungry, again!

It is permissible, in the world of British haute cuisine, to substitute potatoes for the (English-style) beans.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Not really - beans rule.

What is really noticeable by its absence is the bacon and in some parts of the UK black pudding too.

[Paulie]

13. yes completely incomplete

Must have the side bacon (not streaky) and black pudding. And as I remember from my week in Kingston ordering this everyday the bread was pan toasted in butter too...

I'm still pondering the $5 latte I usually ordered from Starbucks at home that was £5...

[dipsydoodle]

15. Kingston Surrey ?

[certainot]

9. bangers and beans, right?

[roguevalley]

10. glorious english brekky yum

[nilram]

12. Had no idea that fossilized tomatos would keep their colour so well.

What a find.

[theHandpuppet]

6. Fascinating

I'll have to check for the airing time. Thanks for posting.

[MisterP]

21. if you subtract the Indo-European from Celtic you get a few scraps of their language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goidelic_substrate_hypothesis
I made a map of the world of 5,000 YA