Archaeologists unearth 4,000-year-old Bronze Age human remains
The remains of the man were found at a site near Bere Regis in Dorset
Last updated 10th Jul 2023
4,000-year-old human remains have been discovered in a Bronze Age burial site in Dorset.
It is the first time bones dating back that far have been found on the site of prehistoric settlements in Winterborne Kingston near Bere Regis.
Archaeologists from Bournemouth University said the adult male was found in a very tightly packed grave alongside urns.
The settlements, which were inhabited by the Durotriges tribe, date back to around 100 BC whereas the Bronze Age began around 2,000 years before.
Dr Miles Russell from Bournemouth University said: "This is giving us the idea that people have been living here for a significant period of time.
"It’s not just the period just before the Romans arrived, they were farming this landscape, growing crops and burying their dead at least four millennia ago.
The man was found in a crouched position which is consistent with Bronze Age practices.
People were mummified after they died and kept above ground for a period of time before being buried in shallow pits.
During the past five weeks a team of 110 students, staff and volunteers from Bournemouth University have also uncovered the buried remains of five people from the Iron Age.
Dr Miles Russell said: "We don’t know an awful lot about what life was like before the Romans arrived.
"But at this site in Dorset, we’ve not only got a large farming settlement, we’ve also got human burials which is really important from an archaeological perspective.
"In most parts of the country we don’t find much in the way of skeletons before the Roman arrival but in Dorset, prehistoric communities buried their dead in defined graves.
"Where we have the bones we can learn more about their diet, lineage and also migration patterns.
"There is the whole aspect of the state of society in late prehistory that we get here but we don’t really get anywhere else across Britain."