On this day...9th July (Warning - contains images of human remains)

We start this day in 2011 for a general trench view on Chalkpit Field where everyone is hard at work.

On this day in 2010, a crouched burial was discovered during excavation of the Lower Chalkpit Field. Expertly excavated by human remains specialists, Mel and Victoria, Skeleton S8002 was revealed in her 1m diameter almost-circular grave that had been cut into the natural. A radiocarbon sample dated her to the Middle Iron Age. Based on the skeletal remains and severe wear to the teeth we can tell that Skeleton S8002 was a woman of about 50 years of age, a very good age for the time. She stood approximately 169 cm tall and had a robust frame. Her life had been one of hard, physical work. This is just a snapshot into her discovery. The full story can be found in ‘Digging Sedgeford’ by the SHARP team.

Another burial excavated during week 2 of the season was on Boneyard in 2005 and highlights a quite different burial custom. Many of the burials excavated from Boneyard were shrouded but if you look closely into the corner of the excavated area (top left) you can see the remains of an iron coffin bracket indicating the position of a coffin, now long gone.