Unusual burial of this Medieval girl suggests she was 'different' in the community

Archaeologists have shared details after examining a young Mediaeval girl's remains. The girl was reportedly buried face down with her ankles potentially tied together. It was excavated between 2016 and 2018, but remains have now been studied.

The experts believe her ankles may have been tied together and she was buried face down in an effort to prevent "returning from the grave".

The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) said the skeletal remains were found in a pit at an Early Medieval settlement near the southeastern English village of Conington in the county of Cambridgeshire.

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In a statement released Monday (August 14), Don Walker, a senior human osteologist (bone specialist) at MOLA, said: "We will probably never know exactly how this young woman was viewed by the community she grew up in, but the way she was buried tells us she was almost certainly seen as different."

"Her burial rites may have reflected the nature of her death, or her social identity or that of her family," Walker added.

As per the official statement, the evidence suggests that the girl experienced many hardships during her short life. Her unusual grave sheds light on a rare early medieval burial practice, which is perhaps even contemporary attitudes towards those within the community who were considered "different".

Walker also said that the burial provides an interesting opportunity, which is tragic in so many senses, to view the realities of life, and death, for those seen as outsiders in the past.

Even though the kingdoms of England were Christian by the ninth century, burial in graveyards connected to churches wasn't the custom.

Although there were no defined burial customs in early mediaeval England, one element of funerals during this time was that the deceased was placed face up. This young woman stands out as unique since she was found face-down in a pit.

The analysis also revealed that she could have faced malnutrition and also had a spinal joint disease, which was made worse by carrying out hard manual labour from a young age. All of this indicates that she was of low social status.

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