The Boscombe Bowmen: Another Stonehenge Mystery!

In 2003, while digging a trench for a new water pipe a Beaker burial from the Bronze Age was discovered. Most Bronze Age burials found to date have contained only one or two occupants but unusually this was a mass burial containing the remains of seven people.

The full story of this group of people may never be known but their discovery has thrown new light on the transportation of the bluestones from Wales to Stonehenge. It also reveals new knowledge of the movement and migration of people during the Bronze Age and the spread of commerce around Britain and from Europe.

Stonehenge by Joe Dorward - TheCreator - Public Domain

A group burial

Wessex Archaeology examined the burial and reported that the remains of those found belonged to three adult males, one teenage male and three children. The oldest occupant was a man who was buried with his head to the north, on his side, with his legs curled up.

He had suffered a terrible injury to his left thighbone which had been broken and may have healed to be shorter than the right. It is not known how long he had carried the injury but he had survived to walk with a limp and was thought to be 30 to 45 years of age when he died.  Read more