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Amazing medieval necklace from 1,300 years ago found
A 1,300-year-old necklace beaded with gold and semiprecious stones has been discovered in an early-Anglo Saxon burial site under a construction project in central England. The location is being hailed as the most significant female burial site from the era discovered in Britain.
"We know about these people from deeds, from literary sources, from hagiographies, but very often we don't have much material evidence for their existence," he said, adding that these aristocratic women played a central role in spreading new religious practices: "There is a form of soft power exercised by these queens."
Experts have hailed the find as particularly significant evidence of the role played by elite women at the time. "This woman probably belonged to the first generation of English Christians in this part of England," Francis Young, a historian of religion who was not involved in the excavation, told The Post. "This is people wanting to show off their newly acquired identity as Christians."
The buried woman's identity is not known, but she is thought likely to have been either an abbess or member of Saxon royalty — if not both.