WARRIOR'S BURIAL

Waipa Post, Volume 38, Issue 2271, 21 February 1929, Page 7

WARRIOR'S BURIAL

JUTISH SKELETONS IN KENT

Part of what is believed to' be the ancient burial ground of an early Jutish settlement has been discovered in the parish of Finglesham (says the Daily Telegraph). Twenty r-keie-tons, male and female, have been found during excavations in the sides of an old disused chalk pit. It is expected that further digging will reveal many interesting facts about the raiders, who came to these coasts from the mouth of the YAbe under Hengist and Horsa aftar the Roman evacuation, and finally spread their settlement fromThanet as far as the Isle of Wight.

Mr W. Whiting, who excavated tba Roman cemetery at Ospringe, near Faversham, and Mr W. P. D. Stebbing, of Deal, who is in charge of similar work at Rjchborough, are undertaking the present excavat'-,n„ A discovery of bones in the arable soil adjoining the pit was reported by the farmer to Mr Whiting, and the graves were discovered at a depth varying from 18 inches to three feet in the chalk. Mr Stebbing said that the deeper burials were probably those of the more eminent members of the community. The fact that female skeletons were found indicates that the site was actually a cemetery and not a battle ground.

The warriors were all buried with their arms by tihieir sides, and a number of iron swords, shields and knives have been unearthed. Brooches, bead's, charms and ornaments of bronze have also been found, and some pottery. So far, the most interesting article discovered is a glass drinking vessel, like a long shaped cup. Mr Stebbing explained that although the Jutes had mastered the craft of glass making, drinking vessels were usually of horn. "The burial ground," he said, "probably extends for some distance beyond the cjialk pit, but it is largely under arable land. The present discovery in very similar to one made a few years ago by Dr Rowe, of Shottendale, near Margate. The skeletons we have discovered are probably not those of the original raiders, but of their near successors and descendants —somewhere between 450 and 550 A.D."