Blog Entry 12

Cow and woman found in Cambridgeshire Anglo-Saxon dig

An incredibly rare and interesting find is said to be genuinely bizarre. A group of students from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Central Lancashire, found a woman, buried with a cow, while excavating an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Cambridgeshire. They first though they had found a grave from a man with his horse, which is more common. Student Jake Nuttall said: "Male warriors might be buried with horses, but a woman and a cow is new to us." Co-director of the excavation, Dr Duncan Sayer, from the University of Central Lancashire, said: "This is the first animal to be discovered with a woman from this period - the late 5th Century - and it's really interesting that it's a cow, a symbol of economic and domestic wealth and power.” The grave was also full of goods, like hundreds of amber and decorated glass beads. "She also had a complete chatelaine [keychain] set, which is an iron girdle and a symbol of her high status," Dr Sayer said.

I never knew a cow could be so valuable! Of course, I can imagine why a cow would so valuable at the time. What I don’t get is if such things as cows, jewels etc. are so valuable, why then bury it? I’m sure those people who buried her could use these kinds of riches. OK, she was rich and important… have a nice funeral and some flowers, but to throw those riches away…like she can take it with her. Perhaps that could be the reason; a cow to travel over the plains of death and jewels to buy food in order to keep her cow alive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-18580332