A 1,300 years old necklace has been found around one of the Anglo-Saxon archaeological sites, and its history is quite impressive. During a construction project that was going on in Central London, the necklace was found in what seemed like an ancient burial site. This new necklace will go down as one of the most significant ancient archaeological discoveries about ancient female burials.
Archaeologist Simon Mortimer, who worked during the excavation of the newly discovered archaeological findings, said that it could be found in a lifetime. The new discovery gave them a headlight on how females of ancient times behaved and the level of respect that was given to them.
"This find is truly a once-in-a-lifetime discovery — the sort of thing you read about in textbooks and not something you expect to see coming out of the ground in front of you," Simon Mortimer said.
The new 1,300-year-old ancient discovery by archaeologists is believed to be from an ancient woman who took her devotion to her god seriously. Another group of experts believes that the discovery sheds more light on Christianity's early practice and how popular women influenced others to participate in the religion.
More Details About the Rare Archeological Finding
According to the information provided by the archaeological experts who dug out the necklace, it is dated between 630 and 670 AD. The discovery of this necklace was made at the gravesite near Northampton.
This important archaeological discovery was made earlier this year, but those involved in the findings gave out the full information this December. From the data they provided, the necklace contains 30 trinkets. These 30 trinkets consisted of four garnets set in gold, eight Roman gold coins, 12 beads, and five glass pendants in what was set as a cross.
Paul Thompson, who was in charge of the ancient discoveries by archaeologists around the area, spoke to the Washington Post, saying, "It wasn’t just one or two items. That would have been incredible on its own. We have here the only complete example of this type of necklace excavated by modern archaeological standards. … It’s an asymmetrical set-out of the gold coins and the precious stones mounted in gold, which we haven’t seen before."
When this finding was made, two decorated pots and a shallow copper dish accompanied it, making things even more delicate for those involved in the archaeological findings. The identity of the woman who had the piece of jewellery is not yet known, although she is thought to be an abbess or member of Saxon royalty. The only part of her body which was visibly still in existence Wass some parts of her teeth.
One of the Most Significant Archeological Findings on the Role of Women
A major reason why this 1,300-year-old necklace is significant is that it shows the role elite women in the past played on several occasions, especially in Christianity.
"This woman probably belonged to the first generation of English Christians in this part of England. This is people wanting to show off their newly acquired identity as Christians," Francis Young, a historian of religion, told the Washington Post.
Another person has a similar opinion, saying that the new finding showed that elite women used Christianity to increase their status in society in the past.
"Christianity provided a way for women to gain independence and power in their own right, by enabling them to run monastic houses, so we see an increase in elite women using Christianity as a means of increasing their status. In this burial, we’re seeing a particularly fine example of that process," Emma Brownlee, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge, said.