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More than a year after the discovery of one of the most significant early medieval female burials in Britain (see CA 395), expert conservation work has revealed the artistry of the grave goods that were buried with a young woman at Harpole, near Northampton, in the 7th century.
When the burial was excavated by MOLA in April 2022, during investigations ahead of a new housing development, its occupant was found to have been laid to rest with an elaborate necklace made up of some 30 pendants and beads. Grave goods were carefully block-lifted in their surrounding soil, and since then they have been carefully micro-excavated, cleaned, and conserved, shedding new light on the objects and fully revealing the intricate gold work and semi-precious stones of the necklace for the first time (below).
Work has also progressed on uncovering the large cross that had been placed in the grave. This was first identified in an X-ray image of one of the soil blocks, but now part of its surface has been revealed (the process is slow as it is made of extremely thin sheets of silver attached to wood, and its corroded surface is difficult to distinguish from the surrounding soil). So far, the cross appears to have been decorated with a smaller gold cross that incorporates one large and four smaller garnets: a similar design to pectoral crosses from contemporary high-status female burials such as that found at Trumpington in Cambridgeshire (CA 343).
Micro-excavation has revealed more traces of the woman herself, too: it was previously thought that only a few tooth fragments had survived, with her skeleton lost to the acidic soil, but the team have now found the upper part of a femur, as well as elements of her pelvis, vertebrae, hand, and wrist.
Riva Boutylkova, MOLA Conservator, said: ‘Our work on the Harpole burial has really demonstrated the value of block-lifting and micro-excavating these types of features. We have been able to find and record details that may have been lost outside the controlled conditions of the lab. This unlocks a world of possibilities for future research and analysis, which will give us a much richer understanding of this extraordinary find.’
As work continues on the burial, it is hoped that further details about the grave goods, as well as the woman with whom they were buried, will be revealed.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Image: © MOLA
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