London, Apr. 22 (ANI): Archaeologists, excavating near the Royal Borough, have found a 4400-year-old skeleton of an upper class woman, who was almost certainly a member of the local ruling elite.
The individual, aged around 40, was buried wearing a necklace of folded sheet gold, amber and lignite beads, just a century or two after Stonehenge was constructed some 60 miles to the south-west, the Independent reported.
Even the buttons, believed to have been used to secure upper part of her long-vanished burial garment, were made of amber and she also appears to have worn a bracelet of lignite beads.
It's known that in southern Britain, some high status men of that era - the Copper Age - had gold possessions, but this is the first time archaeologists have found a woman of that period to have gold possessions.
It's believed that the gold used to make the jewellery may have come originally from hundreds of miles to the west - and that the amber almost certainly came from the UK's North Sea coast. The lignite - a form of coal - is also thought to have come from the UK.
The funeral rite for the potential prehistoric royal may have involved her family arranging her body so that, in death, she clasped a 25 centimetre tall ceramic beaker that was decorated with geometric patterns pottery drinking vessel in her hands.
She was found 18 months ago - but the discovery was kept strictly under wraps, following the completion of initial analyses of the woman's bones - and metallurgical analysis of the gold.
Archaeologist Gareth Chaffey of Wessex Archaeology, who is directing the ongoing excavation, said that the woman unearthed at the site was probably an important person in her society, perhaps holding some standing which gave her access to prestigious, rare and exotic items.
He added that the woman may have been a leader, a person with power and authority, or possibly part of an elite family - perhaps a princess or queen. (ANI)
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