Archaeologists excavating ahead of a housing development at Harpole, near Northampton, have discovered an astonishing 7th-century burial. Acidic soil conditions meant the bones had virtually vanished, but what was left behind was evidence of one of the richest burials of a woman of the period ever uncovered.
There could be no ambiguity about this woman’s faith, for buried with her was a magnificent necklace featuring a pendant cloisonné cross, while large garnets mounted in gold jostled with late-Roman gold coins attached to the necklace. The woman’s body was laid on a bed, long since decayed; a cross was placed underneath her body, while the burial was also furnished with pottery jars and a bronze dish.
