Amesbury Archer
Encyclopedia
The Amesbury Archer is an early Bronze Age
man whose grave was discovered during excavations at the site of a new housing development in Amesbury near Stonehenge
. The grave was uncovered in May 2002, and the man is believed to date from about 2300 BC. He is nicknamed the "archer" because of the many arrowheads that were among the artifacts buried with him. Had he lived near the Stones, the calibrated radiocarbon dates for his grave and dating of Stonehenge suggest the sarsen
s and trilithons at Stonehenge may have been raised by the time he was born, although a new bluestone
circle may have been raised at the same time as his birth.
ever found in a British Bronze Age burial. Among those discovered were: Five funerary pots of the type associated with the "Beaker culture
"; three tiny copper knives; 16 barbed flint arrowheads; a kit of flint-knapping and metalworking tools, including cushion stones that functioned as a kind of portable anvil
and that suggests he was a coppersmith; and some boar's tusks. On his forearm was a black Stone wrist-guard
. A similar red wrist-guard was by his knees. With the second wrist-guard was a shale
belt ring and a pair of gold hair ornaments (the earliest gold objects ever found in England).
Research using oxygen
isotope analysis
in his tooth enamel
suggests that the man may have originated from an alpine region of central Europe
. An eroded hole in his jaw showed that in life he had suffered from an abscess, and his missing left kneecap suggests that he had an injury that left him with a painful lingering bone infection.
His skeleton is now on display at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
in Salisbury
.
) of the calcaneus and of the navicular tarsal
(foot bones) was interred nearby. This man however appears to have been raised in a more local climate. The former was estimated to be about 40 at the time of his death, while the latter was in his early twenties. The graves were discovered only a short distance from the Boscombe Bowmen
who were excavated the following year.
However his grave is of particular importance because of its connections with Continental Europe and early copper smelting technology. He is believed to have been one of the earliest metalworkers in Britain and his discovery supports interpreters who claim that the diffusion of Beaker Culture pottery was the result of population movement, rather than just the widespread adoption of an artifact 'package'.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
man whose grave was discovered during excavations at the site of a new housing development in Amesbury near Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
. The grave was uncovered in May 2002, and the man is believed to date from about 2300 BC. He is nicknamed the "archer" because of the many arrowheads that were among the artifacts buried with him. Had he lived near the Stones, the calibrated radiocarbon dates for his grave and dating of Stonehenge suggest the sarsen
Sarsen
Sarsen stones are sandstone blocks found in quantity in the United Kingdom on Salisbury Plain, the Marlborough Downs, in Kent, and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Hampshire...
s and trilithons at Stonehenge may have been raised by the time he was born, although a new bluestone
Bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:*a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S. and Canada;*limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S...
circle may have been raised at the same time as his birth.
The burial
His grave had the greatest number of artifactsArtifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
ever found in a British Bronze Age burial. Among those discovered were: Five funerary pots of the type associated with the "Beaker culture
Beaker culture
The Bell-Beaker culture , ca. 2400 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age...
"; three tiny copper knives; 16 barbed flint arrowheads; a kit of flint-knapping and metalworking tools, including cushion stones that functioned as a kind of portable anvil
Anvil
An anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...
and that suggests he was a coppersmith; and some boar's tusks. On his forearm was a black Stone wrist-guard
Stone wrist-guard
Early Bronze Age stone wrist-guards are found across Europe from around 2400-1900BC and are closely associated with the Beaker culture and Unetice culture...
. A similar red wrist-guard was by his knees. With the second wrist-guard was a shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
belt ring and a pair of gold hair ornaments (the earliest gold objects ever found in England).
Research using oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
isotope analysis
Isotope analysis
Isotope analysis is the identification of isotopic signature, the distribution of certain stable isotopes and chemical elements within chemical compounds. This can be applied to a food web to make it possible to draw direct inferences regarding diet, trophic level, and subsistence...
in his tooth enamel
Tooth enamel
Tooth enamel, along with dentin, cementum, and dental pulp is one of the four major tissues that make up the tooth in vertebrates. It is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance in the human body. Tooth enamel is also found in the dermal denticles of sharks...
suggests that the man may have originated from an alpine region of central Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. An eroded hole in his jaw showed that in life he had suffered from an abscess, and his missing left kneecap suggests that he had an injury that left him with a painful lingering bone infection.
His skeleton is now on display at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, commonly known as Salisbury Museum is a museum in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It houses one of the best collections relating to Stonehenge and local archaeology....
in Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
.
Second burial
A younger male believed to be related (they shared a rare hereditary anomaly, namely that both had calcaneonavicular coalition (fusingOssification
Ossification is the process of laying down new bone material by cells called osteoblasts. It is synonymous with bone tissue formation...
) of the calcaneus and of the navicular tarsal
Tarsus (skeleton)
In tetrapods, the tarsus is a cluster of articulating bones in each foot situated between the lower end of tibia and fibula of the lower leg and the metatarsus. In the foot the tarsus articulates with the bones of the metatarsus, which in turn articulate with the bones of the individual toes...
(foot bones) was interred nearby. This man however appears to have been raised in a more local climate. The former was estimated to be about 40 at the time of his death, while the latter was in his early twenties. The graves were discovered only a short distance from the Boscombe Bowmen
Boscombe Bowmen
The Boscombe Bowmen is the name given by archaeologists to a group of early Bronze Age individuals found in a shared burial at Boscombe Down near Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England....
who were excavated the following year.
The importance of the burials
The Archer was quickly dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the British press due to the proximity of the famous monument and some have even claimed he may have been involved in its construction. However, this cannot be known for sure and more recently archaeologists have reconsidered the idea. His is just one high profile burial that dates from the time of the stones' erection, but given the lavish nature of the grave his mourners clearly considered him important enough to be buried near to (if not in the immediate area of) Stonehenge. Tim Darvill regards the skeleton as possibly that of a pilgrim to Stonehenge to draw on the 'healing properties' of the bluestonesHowever his grave is of particular importance because of its connections with Continental Europe and early copper smelting technology. He is believed to have been one of the earliest metalworkers in Britain and his discovery supports interpreters who claim that the diffusion of Beaker Culture pottery was the result of population movement, rather than just the widespread adoption of an artifact 'package'.