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.

The grave contained a total of seven burials: three children, a teenager and three men. Analysis of the skulls suggests that the men and the teenager were related to each other. The eldest man was buried in a crouched position with the bones of the others scattered around him and their skulls resting at his feet. They became known as the Bowmen because several flint arrowheads were placed in the grave. Other grave goods included a boar's tusk, a bone toggle, flint tools, and eight Beaker vessels, an unusually high number.

Lead isotope analysis of the men's teeth has indicated that they grew up in the areas either of modern Wales or in the Lake District, but left in childhood. This was thought to be contemporary with the major building work of erecting the Sarsen Circle and the trilithons at Stonehenge but new research indicates that these burials occurred shortly after Stonehenge Phase 3ii. [ cite journal|title=The Age of Stonehenge|journal=Antiquity|date=September 2007|first=Mike|last=Pearson|coauthors=Ros Cleal, Peter Marshall, Stuart Needham, Josh Pollard, Colin Richards, Clive Ruggles, Alison Sheridan, Julian Thomas, Chris Tilley, Kate Welham, Andrew Chamberlain, Carolyn Chenery, Jane Evans, Chris Knüsel,|volume=811|issue=313|pages=617-639|id= |url=|format=|accessdate=2008-05-27 ]

The Bowmen were found in 2003 during roadworks being carried out on behalf of the military contractor that operates the Boscombe Down airfield. The burials are thought to date from around 2300BC, making them broadly contemporary with the Amesbury Archer who was found nearby.

References

External links

* [http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/wiltshire/boscombe/bowmen/index.html Wessex Archaeology: The Boscombe Bowmen]