An Anglo-Saxon man was killed in an 1,400-year-old mystery, experts have revealed.
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experts → kill → mystery
The skeletal remains of the man, who died in the 7th century, were uncovered in Lincolnshire and show he suffered a grisly end to his life.
He had been on his hands and knees, with head bowed forward, when he suffered a single blow to the back of his neck from a sharp, heavy blade.
The man's attacker is thought to have used either a sword or a seax, the Old English word for iron single-edged knives.
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attacker → die → knives
Analysis of the victim's bones has revealed that he was aged between 35 and 45, considered middle-aged in his day, and that he died between 635 and 655.
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he → reveal → 635
His grave is within a cemetery of around 20 burials dating from the late sixth or early seventh century, on the edge of the Callow Carr woodlands, within the Lincolnshire Wolds.
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grave → date → Wolds
The discovery was made by Wessex Archaeology, which conducts excavations nationwide.
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which → make → excavations
Dr Ceri Boston, Wessex's osteoarchaeologist, told the Daily Mail: 'It would have been a pretty frightening ending for this man.
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It → tell → man
He had suffered a pretty nasty slice right down the back of his neck.
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He → suffer → neck
'Somebody came up behind him, probably hoping to kill him.
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Somebody → come → him
Why this happened, or what he had done to deserve this, we don't know.'
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we → happen → this
The skeletal remains were uncovered in a field in Lincolnshire and reveal the man, who died in the 7th century, suffered a grisly end to his life
The excavation of the site in Lincolnshire.
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who → uncover → Lincolnshire
The discovery of the Anglo-Saxon murder mystery was made by Wessex Archaeology, which conducts excavations nationwide
She added: 'The angle of the blow suggests the injury is more likely to have occurred in a brawl or skirmish, possibly as the victim was trying to escape.
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victim → make → brawl
He was not going to live for long with an injury like that.
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He → go → that
'I didn't find any other sword cuts that would suggest he was finished off in another way.
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he → find → way
But you won't see those wounds if they got into the soft tissue.
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they → see → tissue
The analysis has included strontium and oxygen isotopes and DNA, which can reveal where an individual grew up and their ancestry.
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individual → include → strontium
Tests suggest that this man had spent his early years in north-eastern Britain, northern France or Germany.
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man → suggest → Britain
'There's no indication or suggestion that they were killed because they weren't local to the area,' Dr Boston said, noting that the man had come to Lincolnshire as a child, perhaps aged eight, according to the scientific evidence.
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man → be → evidence
He was clearly accepted within his community because he had been laid to rest with a knife and a buckle, just like others within the same cemetery.
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he → accept → cemetery
Both the buckle and the knife were found near the skeleton's waist, suggesting that they had once been attached to a leather or fabric belt that perhaps held a sheath.
This was a period in which people were being converted to Christianity, Dr Boston said: 'They're not buried yet in churchyards.
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They → find → churchyards
That happens a century or two later.
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That → happen → ?
But they've been buried out in the countryside.
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they → bury → countryside
Dietary isotopes reflect that this was a farming community that existed on a mixed animal and plant diet.
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that → reflect → diet
Dr Boston said: 'When you look at the skeletons in general, the people had been a fairly healthy lot.
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people → say → skeletons
Fractures and soft trauma speak of a physically strenuous agrarian lifestyle engaged in by both sexes.'
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Fractures → speak → sexes
She added that the difficulty of their lives is reflected in evidence of long-term exposure to damp or smoky air in some individuals, perhaps from open fires or smelting iron, for example.
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difficulty → add → example
Although much of the archaeological work was conducted between 2020 and 2021 for the onshore route of Viking Link, the 475-mile electricity interconnector between Great Britain and Denmark, the discoveries have needed time to be analysed and this particular grave is only being announced today
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grave → conduct → time
The Aporia
