AN archaeological dig in Delamere has uncovered items believed to date back to the Bronze Age.
The dig, which took place at the Seven Lows barrow cemetery on Fishpool Road in August, uncovered several historic items including cremation urns and flint tools.
Although full analysis has not yet been carried out, archaeologists believe the items to be from the Bronze Age.
Dan Garner, archaeology project officer for Habits and Hillforts, a group that focuses on the hillforts that line Cheshire’s Sandstone Ridge, said the group is currently analysing the items and the cremated human bones found within them.
He said: “We hope to have the results of analysis of the cremated human bone by the end of November. Hopefully we’ll be in the position then to give more detail regarding the age and gender of the individuals buried in the urns and how many hundreds, or even thousands of years ago they are from.”
The Seven Lows barrow cemetery lies at the head of the valley of the Sandyford Brook, and is a group of seven Bronze Age bowl barrows.
Only four of the mounds are still visible, with mounds two and seven having been de-scheduled as ancient monuments in 1994 on the presumption that they had been destroyed through repeated ploughing.
But after reviewing collected data and carrying out a series of geophysical surveys, HH discovered that the site of mound seven was still exhibiting the remains of a slight earthwork in the form of a ring encompassing the top of a low hill.
A training excavation undertaken by HH in August placed a 2m wide and 50m long section across the centre of the ring detected using non-invasive surgery techniques.
“We recovered fragments of worked flint, burnt bone, prehistoric pottery and part of a large pit,” said Dan. “We then went on to find four cremations urns which we are currently analysing but believe to date between 1500 and 2000 BC.”
The most unique find was a small piece of worked bone, thought to be a toe bone from a sheep or goat, which had been made into an object resembling a toggle or bead.
Although analysis of the items is still ongoing, it is hoped that the urns will form part of a display at Weaver Hall Museum in the near future.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here