Archaeologists digging in Cawston (Warwickshire, England) have described the discovery of the remains of two cremated bodies dating back some 2,000 years as a major find. Land on Calvestone Road set for development is currently the subject of an archaeological dig due to its historical significance.
     Until recently the dig, running until March, had uncovered only rocks and slate objects believed to date back 4,000 years to the Neolithic, along with evidence of ridge and furrow land used in ancient farming. But this week saw the uncovering of bone fragments and other evidence of two cremation burials believed to date from the Iron Age.
     The bodies were not intact as they were laying in sand which does not preserve bone well, but project officer for Cotswold Archaeology, Vasileios Tsamis, said it was by far the most important discovery made by his team. "It's a really interesting find and points to the possibility of a farming community," Mr Tsamis said . "We have also found evidence of farmland and rocks going back as far as 4,000 years, so we're talking about some really old things here. A lot of the land is sandy ground in which organic material doesn't survive, so we're not sure what else we'll find down there. We will just have to wait and see."
     The remains will be removed from the site for testing alongside the other objects recovered by the archaeology team. Mr Tsamis said he and his colleagues believed the site was likely to have once been an ancient farmstead.

Edited from The Rugby Observer (8 February 2012)