# The Amesbury Archer



## Rosemary (Jul 29, 2008)

*The Amesbury Archer: The King of Stonehenge?*
  By Andrew Fitzpatrick
  An excavation in Wiltshire has recently revealed the grave of a Bronze Age archer, buried with a rich array of precious metal goods and a quiver of arrows. Was this the King of Stonehenge? Andrew Fitzpatrick of Wessex Archaeology takes up the story.
  An Early Bronze Age grave
  In the spring of 2002 what started as a routine excavation was undertaken in advance of the building of a new school at Amesbury in Wiltshire. By the end of the excavation the richest Bronze Age burial yet found in Britain had been discovered. The Bronze Age man discovered there had been buried not far from the great temple of Stonehenge. He was a man who owned and could work the new and magical metals of gold and copper. And he had come from what is now central Europe, perhaps around the Alps. Was he a king of Stonehenge? 
  On the site of the proposed new school there was a small Roman cemetery but, it seemed, little else. In the far corner of the site, though, there were two features that looked different. Had they been caused by trees being blown over? Or were they something else? They certainly did not look like Roman graves. 
  'Early Bronze Age pottery showed that they were over 2,500 years older than the Roman graves.'
  The offerings placed beside him - the accoutrements of a hunter or warrior and other symbols of status - are also typical of the time. What is atypical is the sheer quantity of these grave goods.


_The archaeologists seem to find so much these days and it is so interesting to learn about the past by graves and other finds.  _



BBC - History - The Amesbury Archer: The King of Stonehenge?


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## Marcus15 (Jul 29, 2008)

Hmmm, very interesting.

I wonder sometimes if these graves were actually wanderers who were given special burials out of hospitality?


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## Overread (Jul 29, 2008)

I belive that they have now identified his origins through local water sources and their effect on the chemical makeup of teeth (and bones?).
Its the same technology that they used to track the birthplace of the London Voodoo sacrifice child - which they got to within 3miles in Africa through this


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## Pyan (Jul 29, 2008)

Incidently, the whole of the development is now called the *Archers Gate Estate*...the Housing Society I work for has properties there...


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## clovis-man (Jul 30, 2008)

I wonder if there is any real relationship. There are numerous other barrows in the area as well as other "henges". And the dating may put it at the early stage of the construction of Stonehange as opposed to the latter (hundreds of years later) more complete stages.


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## The Procrastinator (Jul 30, 2008)

This is very interesting. I must read more about the bronze age, its really fascinating.


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