Skeleton found in Berkeley is important historical find

Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman or Dark Ages skeleton in the grounds of the Edward Jenner museum.

The Roman occupation in Britain ended in 410AD, making this an extremely rare find of great historical significance. As the skeleton was painstakingly excavated by students from the University of Bristol it became clear that it was cut in half by a later ditch. Roman material was found in this ditch, which could have either been deposited by the Romans themselves or by post-Roman inhabitants of the area.

BBC Coast presenter and historian Prof Mark Horton, who leads the student dig with Dr Stuart Prior from Bristol University, said it was an extremely exciting find.

"This was a completely unexpected but really important discovery because it fills in the history between the Roman villa that we believe is on the site and the Anglo-Saxon monastery discovered during earlier digs," said Prof Horton, from Wotton.

It has long been known that Berkeley is an important settlement site and teams from the university have been visiting Berkeley each summer since 2007 as part of their course as it is a town rich in history ready to be discovered.

They have already established that Berkeley is an important Anglo-Saxon site with a minster (a type of religious building) on the same scale and status as Gloucester.

The skeleton seems to be further proof that the site is much older than first expected.

The skeleton is known to be adult, its sex has not as yet been determined. It was found underneath the sealed remains of part of the Anglo-Saxon Minster, founded in the 8th century.

One of the expert archaeologists, Peter Twinn, will be giving a talk about this year’s finds at Dr Jenner’s House in the Old Cyder House, on Thursday, July 21 (7.30pm), entitled Flint’s, Musket Balls and a Knight’s Tale: Archaeological Finds from Berkeley. For more information see www.jennermuseum.com