BRONZE AGE MAN

Hawera Star, Volume L, 26 July 1930, Page 18

BRONZE AGE MAN

AX ancient British 'coffin o,r stonecist, believed to be between 4000 and 5000 years o'M, and containing the skeleton of n man. has been unearthed at iSummerhill, B lay don, in the 1 North of England, The discovery was made by schoolboys who were digging in the sand. 'The stone-cist also, contained an ancient aim which, tnougii slightly ca-aek-ed, is' in'a- wonderful state of preservation. The boys we.ro digging ;a. “'cave _ when they came on the big slab of stone, inside which they found bones. They 'obtained a, sack, into which all the bones (were placed, and. the. sack was left all night in a backyard. The boys did not. realise the importance of their find, and said nothing about it until one of them told' .Mr .T. Huntley. the headmaster of Blaydon Intermediate School, on. the following morning. “I paid little attention to the matter at first, as finds of old bones 'are not uncommon, ’ ’ Mr Huntley said. “But when the boy mentioned what he called a vase I realised that the discovery was an' important one.*. Mr' Huntley had the relics removed to the school for safe custody, and' at ■anice notified the police and the Ha-n----icoelc Museum authorities. The police then took possession of the bones,

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Boys Discover Skeleton

which were examined by iMr Parker Brewis, M.A., F.S.A., a well-known archaeologist, who was for 21 years curator of the Black Gate Museum. After his examination, IMr ißrewis declared that the remains belonged -unquestionably to flic Bronze Age. . The cist twas about ‘2ft. broad, .►■il. bin. wide and about 2ft. high. The bones were: in a brittle condition ami crumbled easily. Part of the skull 1 is

massing. The urn, which is of burnt earth, is of a brownish-red colour, Sin. high and o’in. wide. Tt is ornamented with straight-line bands and crosses, giving evidence of design and craftsmanship. It is regarded as am important discovery.

Mr Huntley said that in 'the. Neolithic times tire funeral ground was an artificial mound’ of earth, in which the body was laid on a stone slab with its face toward the rising sun. . It was then surrounded on all four side's and the top by further slabs, amd an uin containing food! avla'si usually buried with the body to provide sustenance for the dead man on his journey to the next worl'cL The burial ,\vas 'completed by heaping earth over the: cislt, the stones serving to prevent wild animals from digging out the body.