A Viking burial ground, which has held bodies undisturbed for 1,000 years with all the trappings of the Sagas including swords, jewellery and firemaking materials, has been uncovered in Cumbria, after a chance find by a metal detector. The site - thought to contain the first formal burial of bodies discovered in England - is believed to date from the 10th century, when the Vikings had been Christianised, but were evidently still hedging their bets. Full details of the find at Cumwhitton, which has caused international excitement, will be announced this morning. The bodies of the four men and two women were buried in the east-west Christian alignment, but with all the grave goods they would need for the pagan afterlife - the women had rich brooches, ornate belt fittings, and a jet bracelet, a material prized as highly as gold.

The men had their weapons and one had spurs, a bridle and what may be a drinking horn for the feasting he clearly expected to continue in the spirit world. All must have been wealthy and powerful individuals, but it will probably never be possible to determine the causes of their deaths, and whether they were related: the sandy acid soil had completely dissolved their bodies.

View: Full Article | Source: The Guardian

Wow, that's normal to us now.

Well, I hope they buried them right back! It disturbs me how we get angry when people mess with graves in our present day, but then we deem it okay to rummage through a 1,000 year old gravesite?? And then we take things! Even if it is for research I think we should let these people rest. It isn't any of our business to go poking around their graves. And why is it so interesting when the first formal burials were? I'm sorry, but nothing about this kind of thing makes sense, and we should just start leaving things alone. At least, that's my opinion about it.