Ancient artefacts found during Hornsea Project One wind farm work

Thousands of artefacts and archaeological remains have been found during work to bury underground cables for an offshore wind farm.

Coins, brooches, pottery and evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement are among the finds unearthed during preparatory work for Hornsea Project One.

Other discoveries include two bodies dating as far back as Roman times.

The wind farm will be off the Yorkshire coast, but a 25-mile onshore cable will reach a North Lincolnshire substation.

From 2015, excavations have taken place along the cable route from Horseshoe Point, east of Tetney, to North Killingholme.

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Radiocarbon dating reveals mass grave did date to the Viking age

A team of archaeologists, led by Cat Jarman from the University of Bristol's Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, has discovered that a mass grave uncovered in the 1980s dates to the Viking Age and may have been a burial site of the Viking Great Army war dead.

One of the female skulls from the Repton charnel [Credit: Cat Jarman]

Although the remains were initially thought to be associated with the Vikings, radiocarbon dates seemed to suggest the grave consisted of bones collected over several centuries. New scientific research, published in Antiquity, now shows that this was not the case and that the bones are all consistent with a date in the late 9th century. Historical records state that the Viking Great Army wintered in Repton, Derbyshire, in 873 A.D. and drove the Mercian king into exile.

Excavations led by archaeologists Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle at St Wystan's Church in Repton in the 1970s and 1980s discovered several Viking graves and a charnel deposit of nearly 300 people underneath a shallow mound in the vicarage garden.

The mound appears to have been a burial monument linked to the Great Army.

An Anglo-Saxon building, possibly a royal mausoleum, was cut down and partially ruined, before being turned into a burial chamber.

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This Mass Grave May Belong to 'Great Viking Army'

Bones are yielding new clues about the massive, mysterious Viking forces that invaded England.

A photo taken at a 1982 excavation of the gravesite shows remains from what may belong to the Great Viking Army. 

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN BIDDLE

For years, archaeologists were stumped. What happened to the Great Viking Army, a massive force that seized great swaths of England in the 9th century but left barely a trace?
Archaeologists now report that a mass grave in England may contain nearly 300 Viking warriors—the only remains of the Great Viking Army’s warriors ever found.Archaeologists first uncovered the burial site in the 1980s, in Derbyshire, England, and thought it might contain remains from the Great Viking Army, also known the Great Heathen Army. But there was one problem—radiocarbon dating of the site revealed that the remains were too old to be Viking invaders.
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Canterbury artefacts 'may have been stolen by metal thieves'

Two suspected metal thieves are believed to be behind the theft of an archaeological hoard including hundreds of Anglo-Saxon beads and iron age coins, having apparently stumbled on the artefacts while scavenging for copper pipes and wiring.

Canterbury Archaeological Trust is appealing for the public’s help in scanning online sale sites such as eBay for any sign of the artefacts stolen in three raids last month at its warehouse, in the north-east of the city.

The trust is also furious with its landlord, Canterbury city council, because it claims the council failed to inform it, or the police, about metal theft on an adjacent derelict site.

Thieves steal hundreds of priceless artefacts from Canterbury charity

 

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The trust’s archive manager, Andrew Richardson, is devastated by the loss of at least 1,500 items, including Anglo-Saxon brooches and coins each worth thousands of pounds.

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Thieves steal hundreds of priceless artefacts from Canterbury charity

Priceless artefacts including 850 Anglo-Saxon beads have been stolen from an archaeological charity in Canterbury during a series of break-ins.

Thieves broke into the store of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, which undertakes excavations and research and educates the public about archaeology, twice last week and once over the weekend.

As well as the beads, large quantities of coins and metal artefacts, and an assortment of bone objects have been stolen.
The charity has put on an appeal asking the public to look out for the historical items being offered for sale.

The trust’s outreach and archive manager Dr Andrew Richardson told the Guardian: “It’s been pretty distressing for everyone at the trust, not only because of the lost items but also the scale of the damage.

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