Professor Alice Roberts with osteologists Jacqueline McKinley and Ceri Boston from Wes𝑠e𝑥 Archaeology in the Digging for Britain tent with two Anglo-Saxon burials found during excavations for Viking Link © Wes𝑠e𝑥 Archaeology.

During previous excavations, scientists reported a large Anglo-Saxon burial had been unearthed at Bicker Fen, Lincolnshire.

At the site, archaeologists discovered traces of Roman occupation at the site with surveys showing a system of wide, deep ditches defining fields and activity areas and animal bone assemblage showing that people at the time kept animals onsite, including cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, and chickens.

Scientists also found evidence of an Anglo-Saxon agricultural landscape at Bicker Fen with sweeping curved ditches that enclosed areas of land. Although these areas look very different from Roman archaeology, they also reinforce the area’s historic link to farming.

When the team started to dig, they unearthed an Anglo-Saxon burial site and the remains of 16 adults, four teenagers, and two children. Scientists also found a number of ancient artifacts. Among them are a Roman bone comb and pin to hold hairstyles in place and an incense-burning vessel.

A number of Anglo-Saxon and Roman objects were found at the site. Here we see a an incomplete double-sided bone comb decorated with parallel incised notches. Roman: 3 rd -4 th century A.D. Image credit: Viking Link

The National Grid’s Viking Link project started in 2020, and during this time, 50 archaeological sites have been dug along the onshore cable route.

According to the British archaeological organization Wes𝑠e𝑥 Archaeology, the most striking discovery, however, is the remains of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery.

The burials in the cemetery deliberately focus on an earlier Bronze Age ring ditch and indicate the funerary landscape was long established. “Archaeologists uncovered the buried remains of over 20 people alongside a range of grave goods, including knives, jewelry, and pottery vessels. From these 250 artifacts, experts know the cemetery dates to the 6th and 7th centuries AD.

Among the burials was that of a teenage girl and a child. Both lay on their sides with the child tucked in behind the older girl. Two small gold pendants set with garnets and a delicate silver pendant with an amber mount were recovered from around the teenager’s head or chest, together with two small blue glass beads and an annular brooch,” Wes𝑠e𝑥 Archaeology informed in a press release.

The relationship between the child and the teenager is not yet known, but research and analysis are ongoing. They will include isotope and Ancient DNA analysis of these and other skeletal remains. This will help to identify familial relationships and broader genetic links both within this community and between others in the region and the movement of people in wider society.

Specialists are also looking at the artifacts and the layout of the cemetery to learn about the economic, cultural, and social factors affecting this community, including the import of exotic goods and the health of those buried within different parts of the cemetery.

As this research unfolds, scientists hope to greatly extend the understanding of Anglo-Saxon life and death in the region.

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“Although many Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are known in Lincolnshire, most were excavated decades ago when the focus was on the grave goods, not the people buried there. Excitingly, here we can employ various scientific advancements, including isotopic and DNA analyses. This will give us a far better understanding of the population, from their mobility to their genetic background and even their diet,” Jacqueline McKinley, Principal Osteoarchaeologist from Wes𝑠e𝑥 Archaeology, said.